Rise of a Pokémon Master
by SevereWizardShark
Summary: Ash Ketchum is finally ready to begin the adventure of a lifetime. However, when all of the starter Pokémon have already been taken, he ends up with an unlikely ally... Tangela. Will the two of them rise to the top? AmourShipping.
1. Pokémon! I Choose You?

**A/N: Hey there! If you're reading this, that means you must be interested in this story or you accidentally clicked on it. If it's the first one, then I hope I don't disappoint you! This AU story is about Ash Ketchum's journey throughout the Kanto region. Except instead of Pikachu, there's going to be Tangela. So why Tangela? Well, have you ever read a fanfic about Tangela? Of course you haven't. Oh, and there's going to be AmourShipping too, because I'm the author and I have the power to do that. But I don't want to spoil the entire story, so why don't you just start reading?**

* * *

It was a starry night in Pallet Town. Everyone in the whole area was asleep, except for one young man.

This young man was named Ash Ketchum. He had brown eyes and messy black hair. He was sitting on his bed watching TV.

"Nidorino! Use Poison Sting!" A trainer yelled to his Nidorino.

"Nido!" Nidorino shot poisonous white needles at its opponent, who was a fearsome Gengar.

"Gengar, dodge the attack and use Shadow Ball!" The second trainer exclaimed.

The Gengar managed to jump high into the air and begun to form a large sphere-shaped attack.

"ASH KETCHUM!" A woman furiously yelled.

"What is it, Mom?" Ash asked. "I'm trying to watch TV. There's a battle between a Nidorino and a-"

"It's past midnight! You need to go to bed." Delia said.

"It's my tenth birthday tomorrow. You know I'm not going to be able to sleep!" Ash told his mother.

"Yes, but you don't want to oversleep and miss out on getting a Pokémon." Delia told him.

"But-" Ash said.

"I'M NOT ASKING AGAIN!" Delia yelled at the top of her lungs, scaring Mr. Mime, who was doing the dishes in the kitchen downstairs.

"OK, Mom." Ash said.

"Good night, dear." Delia said, closing the door and mumbling something under her breath.

 _I guess I need to decide what starter Pokémon I'll choose,_ Ash thought to himself. As he thought about it, he slowly fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, Ash's alarm clock started going off.

 _I don't want to get up right now,_ Ash thought. _I'm going back to sleep..._

"I'm so tired…" Ash said, letting out a huge yawn and hitting the snooze button on his clock. However, the button didn't work and the alarm clock kept beeping

 _I guess I'll just unplug it from the wall,_ Ash thought. He unplugged it and went back to sleep.

* * *

About two hours later, Ash woke up again to hear a bunch of people talking outside.

"What's that noise?" Ash said, rolling out of bed and opening his window. He saw a bunch of people gathered around Professor Oak's laboratory.

"Those kids are so lucky." A man said.

"Getting a Pokémon would be really awesome." Another guy said.

"Yeah! If I got a Pokémon, I could get rid of my annoying husband." A woman replied.

 _What are they talking about?_ Ash wondered. _Oh well, I guess I'll just go back to sleep…_

Suddenly, he realized what everyone was talking about.

"Oh no! I overslept!" Ash yelled. He ran out of his room and towards the stairs as fast as he possibly could. Mr. Mime was busy mopping the stairs, which resulted in Ash tripping and falling down the entire flight of stairs.

"Ash, what are you doing?" Delia asked.

"I'm going to get my first Pokémon!" Ash said, getting up off the ground and running towards the door.

"You're still in your pajamas!" Delia pointed out.

"Oh yeah." Ash said, suddenly realizing that.

"Go upstairs and take a shower! And brush your teeth while you're up there! And don't forget to brush that messy hair!" Delia told him.

"Yes, Mom." Ash sighed as he walked upstairs.

* * *

As Ash put on his blue jacket on over his black shirt, he started thinking about his Pokémon journey.

 _Today's finally the day,_ Ash thought. _I've been waiting ten years for this day to come!_

Ash put his red hat on and ran back downstairs, ready to head outside.

"Alright, Mom! I'll see you later!" Ash said, waving to his mom and Mr. Mime.

 _I can't believe it. In a matter of seconds, I'm finally going to become a Pokémon trainer!_ Ash excitedly thought as he ran through the quiet streets of Pallet Town.

He found a small path heading to Professor Oak's laboratory.

However, yet another obstacle stood between him and the lab. There was a huge mob of people gathered around one person.

"What's going on here?" Ash asked.

"Hey, Ashy-boy. Long time no see!" Gary said, surrounded by a huge mob of followers. "I just got my first Pokémon! And look! This huge group of people came to cheer me on! Isn't that wonderful? Well, I guess you wouldn't know about that kind of stuff!"

"Hello, Gary." Ash said, trying his best to ignore Gary and walk past him.

"Where are you going, Ashy-boy?" Gary asked.

"I'm going to get my first Pokémon." Ash told him.

"Well, I apologize to whatever Pokémon ends up with you as its trainer!" Gary laughed. "Come on, everyone! There's no need to spend anymore time near this guy!"

 _I'll show him,_ Ash thought as he walked into Professor Oak's lab.

"Hello there, Ash." Professor Oak said.

"Hey there, Professor Oak!" Ash said. "I'm here to get my first Pokémon!"

"Well, Ash-" Professor Oak began.

"I've came to the decision that I will choose... Charmander!" Ash yelled with confidence.

Professor Oak shook his head.

"You see-" Professor Oak began.

"OK, then I will choose Squirtle!" Ash decided.

"Ash-" Professor Oak tried to speak, but Ash completely ignored what he was trying to say.

"And if you don't have Squirtle, I guess I'm cool with taking Bulbasaur. It's not really a big deal." Ash continued to ramble on.

"Ash, there aren't any available Pokémon for you to take." Professor Oak told him.

"Say what now?" Ash asked.

"I'm sorry, but you're too late. Three different trainers already showed up today. I'm afraid that I don't have any Pokémon left to give you." Professor Oak said.

"W- W- What?" Ash asked. "This has to be… some kind of joke… right, Professor?"

"I'm sorry, Ash, but-" Professor Oak began, before Ash once again interrupted.

"Look, Professor, there has to be some Pokémon that I can take!" Ash said.

"Ash, you are very sweet, but unfortunately-"

"Professor, there has to be some Pokémon that I can take! Please?" Ash begged, starting to cry.

"I'm sorry, Ash, but my answer is still the same-"

"Professor! Isn't there any way that I can get my hands on a Pokémon! I've been waiting my entire life for this moment!"

"Well-" Professor Oak began.

"Yeah?" Ash said.

"There is one Pokémon." Professor Oak said. "However-"

"I'll take it!" Ash exclaimed, jumping in the air.

"Well, follow me." Professor Oak said, walking with Ash into a room in the back of his laboratory. "You see, one of the subordinates at my lab found the Pokémon injured in a nearby forest. We took it to a Pokémon center and got it back into good health, but I don't believe it has a trainer."

"Well, Professor, I'm sure we'll be perfect for each other!" Ash yelled.

"Here it is." Professor Oak said, showing Ash his new Pokémon.

"Tang! Tang!" The Pokémon yelled. The Pokémon had thick, blue vines that hid his face. Only his white eyes could be seen.

"This is Tangela," Professor Oak said. "It's actually quite rare. You won't find many Tangela in the wild."

"Hey there!" Ash said, leaning down and reaching out to Tangela. However, the Tangela got scared and started shaking.

"Now, the problem is," Professor Oak stated. "Tangela is very shy around humans."

"Excuse me, Professor Oak?" A scientist asked. "Do you have a minute? I need to talk to you about something."

"Ash, I'll be right back." Professor Oak said. "Just wait here until I get back, got it?"

"Got it!" Ash yelled. He looked at Tangela.

"It's OK, Tangela." Ash said, reaching his hand out further. "I won't hurt you. I promise."

"Tang…" Tangela retreated as Ash got closer.

"It's OK…" Ash said, getting closer to the shivering Pokémon.

"Tang!" The Tangela yelled, unleashing a powerful Vine Whip attack on Ash's left cheek. While Ash rubbed the red spot on his cheek, the Tangela ran out of Professor Oak's lab.

"Wait! Come back!" Ash yelled, running out of Oak's lab and chasing the scared Pokémon. "Tangela!"

"Tang!" The Tangela yelled as it ran away and left Pallet Town.

"Wait up!" Ash yelled. As he continued running, he felt a raindrop on his head.

"Oh well, it's just a raindrop-" Ash began before it started thunderstorming.

"Where are you, Tangela?" Ash yelled. Unable to see anything through all of the rain and trees, Ash listened closely to see if he could hear Tangela.

"Tangel! Tang!" A faint voice came from the distance.

"There you are!" Ash continued his sprint through the desolate forest and managed to catch up to the exhausted Tangela.

"Now, Tangela, let's go home." Ash said.

"Bee! Bee!" A Beedrill showed up behind Ash. Tangela saw the Beedrill and started to panic.

"What's wrong?" Ash asked.

"Bee!" The Beedrill tried to puncture Ash with its stinger, but Tangela hit the Beedrill with Vine Whip.

"Tangela…" Ash said. "You saved me…"

"Tan!" Tangela let out a happy noise.

"Now, let's go home." Ash said. Turning around, he saw about twenty Beedrill ready to attack him.

"OH NO!" Ash yelled before the Beedrill all began to attack him.

That was the last thing Ash remembered before everything faded into black.

* * *

Ash rubbed his eyes. He saw a bright light on the ceiling.

 _I must be in a bed,_ Ash realized, as he leaned forward and looked around.

"W… Where am I?" Ash said, scratching his head.

"Oh! You're awake!" A female said. "Oh, I guess I should introduce myself. I'm Nurse Joy. Are you feeling better?"

"I don't really remember what just happened…" Ash said, trying to remember how he ended up where he was. But his mind was completely blank.

"We found you and a Tangela lying in the middle of Route 1. You were really injured." Nurse Joy said. "We took you here, to the Pokémon Center in Viridian City. That was nine hours ago."

"Wow, I must've been asleep for a really long time." Ash said.

Suddenly, he remembered everything.

"Where's Tangela? Is he doing alright?" Ash asked.

"Oh, yes." Nurse Joy said. "You actually managed to shield him from most of the attacks. You're a lot more beaten up than he is."

"That's a relief." Ash said. "I actually feel pretty good. The pain's not bad at all."

"Oh, well, the worst of it hasn't started yet." Nurse Joy said, pointing to the doorway.

"What do you mean by-" Ash asked before he saw a familiar face walk through the door.

"ASH KETCHUM!" Delia yelled.

"Hey, Mom." Ash said, sighing.

"Don't give me that! What happened?" Delia said.

"It was just a minor incident." Ash told her. "But I'm perfectly fine."

"Perfectly fine? You could've been killed! I was so worried about you, Ash." Delia said, beginning to tear up.

"Mom, I'm fine. I promise-" Ash began.

"Hello there, Ash." Professor Oak said. "How are you doing? I hope you're recovering."

"Yeah." Ash said. "I'm doing just fine, Professor."

"Good! Good!" Professor Oak said. "By the way, Tangela's here to see you."

"Tang!" Tangela jumped into Ash's bed.

"He was very concerned about you." Professor Oak told Ash.

"You were?" Ash asked Tangela.

"Tan! Tan! Tan!" Tangela said, jumping off Ash's bed and happily pacing around.

"So how much longer does Ash need to stay in the Pokémon Center?" Delia asked.

"He can leave whenever he wants to-" Nurse Joy began.

"Alright!" Ash yelled, jumping out of bed. "Let's go, Tangela!"

"Tang!" Tangela yelled.

"Wait, Ash!" Delia said. "Here's your backpack. I packed everything that you'll need for your trip. There's food, drinks, a map, underw-"

"Thanks, Mom!" Ash said, grabbing his green backpack and putting it on his back.

"You know," Delia said. "You better call me every now and then. Or I'm going to be really worried, alright?"

"Of course I will, Mom." Ash said.

"Ash. I have something to give you too." Professor Oak said. "It's a Pokédex. It contains entries on all the different Pokémon that you'll find in the Kanto region."

"Thanks, Professor!" Ash told him.

"I also want you to have this." Professor Oak said, handing him a Poké Ball. You should officially catch Tangela and make him your Pokémon."

"Good idea!" Ash said. "OK, Tangela, you ready to come with me?"

"Tan! Tan!" Tangela yelled.

"Alright then! Go, Poké Ball!" Ash yelled, throwing the ball towards Tangela.

The ball wiggled once.

It wiggled a second time.

Then, it wiggled a third time and Tangela was caught.

"Awesome! I caught a Tangela!" Ash yelled, holding his Poké Ball up in the air.

"Good luck, Ash!" Delia yelled as Ash walked out into the streets of Viridian City.

"You don't need to be so worried," Professor Oak told Delia. "Ash is a strong young man. He'll be perfectly fine."

"I know." Delia said. "He's just like his father…"

"I need to figure out where my next destination should be…" Ash said, looking at his map. While he was searching for Viridian City on the map, he heard the voice of someone he didn't feel like dealing with.

"And that's how I got my third car," Gary Oak said, bragging to a bunch of girls. "Look at that! We're finally in Viridian City! I bet that loser Ashy-boy Ketchum hasn't even made it past the-"

"What's going on, Gary?" Ash asked, smiling.

"Ash? H- How did you make it to Viridian City already?" Gary asked, trying to hide his increasing frustration.

"I guess you're just really slow, Gary." Ash said, grinning. Gary was extremely angry.

"You're the one who's slow." Gary smirked. "I mean, at least I have an umbrella."

"What are you talking about?" Ash asked. "It's perfectly sunny outside-"

All of a sudden, it started to thunderstorm again.

"See you later, Ashy-boy!" Gary and all of the girls that were following him obnoxiously laughed.

"That guy is so irritating…" Ash said, finding a bench where he could sit down. "Man, this rain is really pouring down hard…"

 _Wow,_ Ash thought. _So much has happened to me today. And now I finally get to begin my Pokémon journey! I'm going to be the best trainer that ever existed!_

"Excuse me?" A girl asked.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Ash asked, turning towards her.

"B- By any chance, are you Ash Ketchum?" The girl asked. She had long blonde hair, a pink hat, black shoes, a black shirt and a red skirt.

"Yeah. Who are you?" Ash asked.

"Oh… I guess you don't remember me! My name is Serena!" The girl smiled.

* * *

 **A/N: And that concludes the first chapter! I would absolutely love it if you reviewed this story. I'll try to answer any questions that you have in the next chapter. Until then, adios! :)**


	2. Adventures at Camp Pokémon!

**A/N: If you're reading this, then you must've liked my first chapter enough to keep reading the story! That's pretty exciting! Before I begin this next chapter, I want to respond to some of the reviews.**

 _ **It's great seeing a different starter for Ash. Great first chapter.**_

Thanks! I definitely wanted to try something different for this story.

 _ **It feels a little fast paced so far, which I can understand. You're wanting to establish the story and are probably really excited to write all the ideas floating around in your head. Just don't be afraid to adjust the pace as the story progresses.**_

Thanks for pointing that out! I will definitely watch out for that in future chapters.

 _ **Also, will Ash eventually get any of the other Kanto starters?**_

I haven't decided yet. He'll definitely have some of his canon Pokémon, and a few surprises as well.

 _ **Oh, and please let Serena eventually get an Eevee!**_

I 3 Eevee, so someone's going to get one.

 **Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Your opinion is what makes this a better story!**

* * *

"Excuse me?" A girl asked.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Ash asked, turning towards her.

"B- By any chance, are you Ash Ketchum?" The girl asked. She had long blonde hair, a pink hat, black shoes, a black shirt and a red skirt.

"Yeah. Who are you?" Ash asked.

"Oh… I guess you don't remember me! My name is Serena!" The girl smiled.

"Serena?" Ash asked. His mind was drawing a blank.

"We met at Pokémon camp!" Serena told him, trying to get him to remember.

"Pokémon camp?" Ash looked completely lost.

"It was only three years ago!" Serena told him, becoming frustrated. "Remember? Professor Oak was holding a Pokémon camp?"

"Oh! I remember! They had these really good rice balls there!" Ash exclaimed, licking his lips.

"Wait, what? You're completely missing the point here!" Serena told him. She took a deep breath.

"Now I remember!" Ash exclaimed. "You're the girl in the straw hat, right?"

"Y- You really remember that?" Serena blushed.

* * *

It was a hot and windy summer day in Pallet Town. Tons of kids were all lined up for the same reason.

"Welcome to Camp Pokémon!" Professor Oak said, greeting all of the kids in front of him. There were at least twenty kids anxiously waiting to see Pokémon. But none were more excited than Ash Ketchum.

 _Wow! This is so cool!_ The seven-year old Ash thought. _I bet I'm gonna see all sorts of cool Pokémon!_

"Hey, Ashy-boy." A snobby seven-year old appeared behind Ash. There was a brown-haired girl following behind him.

"Gary! I promise I'll defeat you this time!" Ash told Gary. "You may think that you're better than me, but I'm going to win!"

"Ashy-boy, when are you going to figure out that I'm undefeatable?" Gary said, smiling. "Let's face it, no matter what we play, I always win. And you always lose."

Ash clenched his teeth. Deep down, he knew that Gary was right. But he wasn't going to let his bitter rival know that.

"I'll defeat you, Gary!" Ash told him, pointing his finger at him.

"There's no way you could beat Gary!" The brown-haired girl laughed.

"Leaf, I don't know why you always hang out with that guy." Ash told her.

"Oh, are you jealous?" Leaf asked, sticking her tongue out at him.

"N- No!" Ash told her, clearly embarrassed. "I will defeat you, Gary!"

"Keep dreaming, Ashy-boy." Gary laughed. He turned around and walked in the other direction. "Let's get out of here, Leaf."

"Coming!" Leaf said, quickly following Gary.

Ash may have been excited about Pokémon camp, but that wasn't the case for everyone.

A seven-year old girl with blonde hair and a straw hat had tears in her eyes.

 _I hate it here,_ Serena thought. _I hope Mommy comes back soon. I miss her already…_

"Are you kids ready for today's competition?" Professor Oak asked the kids.

"YEAH!" Most of the kids yelled.

"For this competition, you'll have to find ten flags somewhere in the forest." Professor Oak told the kids. "We will split you into two different teams of twelve. You shall either get a red scarf or a blue scarf."

The camp counselors started handing out scarves to each of the kids.

 _I wonder if I'll be on the red team or the blue team,_ Ash thought.

"Now, remember, kids," Professor Oak told them. "Don't go too deep into the forest. I don't want anyone to get hurt, you hear me?"

"Yes, sir!" All of the kids said.

 _I'm so excited!_ Ash thought. _I can't wait! This camp will be my first step to becoming the greatest Pokémon master ever!_

"Did you hear me?" The counselor asked Ash. He had a blue hat, a white t-shirt, jeans and a brown goatee.

"Huh?" Ash asked.

"I said, 'You're on the red team'. OK?" The counselor asked. He mumbled something about kids never paying attention while he walked away.

"Hey there, Ashy-boy. Looks like we're on opposite teams." Gary and Leaf both held up blue scarves.

"Just the way I want it to be." Ash told him.

"You're overconfident today! It's going to be really fun watching you fail!" Gary laughed. "I'll see you later, Ashy-boy."

"Bye." Leaf told him.

 _Ugh, he's so annoying!_ Ash thought. _I really want to beat him now._

"Hey, girl." The camp counselor with the goatee told Serena. "You're on the blue team."

"OK…" Serena said, trying to force back all of her tears.

The camp counselor grumbled something about kids constantly crying as he walked away.

"Hey you! What team are you on?" Gary asked the sniveling Serena.

"I am on b- blue." Serena told Gary.

"Then quit crying." Gary said. He turned his hand into a fist. "Just think about crushing the other team."

"Is everyone ready?" Professor Oak asked.

"YEAH!" All of the kids screamed on the top of their lungs.

"On your mark, get set… GO!" Professor Oak loudly yelled.

The kids all dashed off in different directions.

"Keep an eye on all the kids." Professor Oak told the counselors.

"Yeah, whatever. Leave it to me." The goatee counselor told Professor Oak.

"Good. I will be right back, I have to make a phone call." Professor Oak responded.

Meanwhile, Ash was running through the forest, determined to find ten flags.

 _I have to find those flags,_ Ash thought. _I will finally beat Gary at something!_

All of a sudden, he saw a white flag up on a tree branch.

 _The wind must have blown it up there,_ Ash thought. _But how am I supposed to get it down?_

"Well, I guess I'll just have to climb!" Ash said. He put both hands on the tree and started to climb up.

"Aha! This is awesome!" Ash said. He was only a few feet above the ground, but for the young kid, it seemed like he was hundreds of miles into the sky.

 _Almost there,_ Ash thought. _I only have to go a little further up._

As Ash traversed up the tree, a strong gust of wind started blowing through the forest.

"W… Whoa!" Ash yelled. At that very moment, he lost his footing and began to slide all the way down the tree.

"AAAHHHHHHH!" Ash yelled, until he landed flat on his back.

"Oww…" Ash said, getting up and rubbing his head. _I guess that didn't quite go as planned. It was still really cool though!_

"I thought I heard the sound of someone annoying!" Gary told Ash.

"Very funny." Ash said, rubbing the dirt off of his leg.

"So, just how many flags have you found so far, Ashy-boy?" Gary asked.

"Umm-" Ash began.

"No, wait! Let me take a guess!" Gary smiled. "I bet you haven't found a single flag, have you? That's so typical of you, Ash."

"I…" Ash was embarrassed because he knew it was the truth. But really, all the young kid wanted to do was finally defeat his longtime rival.

"Once again, I have proved that I am awesome and you are terrible. But don't let that discourage you. Maybe one day, you'll actually beat me. Oh, who am I kidding? That will never happen! Come on, Leaf! Let's get out of this loser's presence!"

"Right. Bye-bye!" Leaf said, sticking her tongue out.

"I really hate him…" Ash said.

"That concludes the first competition!" Professor Oak said over a microphone. "The blue team has collected ten flags, so they are today's winners! But don't worry, red team! There will be another competition tomorrow!"

"I wouldn't get too excited." Gary said, grabbing the microphone from his grandfather. "Because our team's going to win again!"

 _I have to win tomorrow! This is the only way to prove to Gary that I am better than him!_ Ash was more determined than ever.

Then, Ash heard his stomach grumbling.

"Time to eat!" Ash said, making his way over to a cafeteria where they were serving tons of food to all of the campers.

Ash grabbed a tray off and stacked tons of rice balls onto it.

"Man, this looks so delicious!" Ash said, throwing one of the balls of rice into his mouth.

"Umm… hello…" Serena said to Ash. She was shaking nervously. "Could I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure." Ash told her. He still had rice in his mouth.

"So, do you know where the cabins are?" Serena said. "I'm so lost…"

"Follow me! I know the way!" Ash said. He tilted his tray and all of the rice balls fell into his mouth. He put his tray back onto the clean pile (even though there were two piles and one was very clearly labeled 'clean' and the other one was labeled 'dirty') and started walking towards the cabins.

"I like your hat by the way." Ash told Serena.

"T… Thanks…" Serena smiled nervously.

"So, why are you here?" Ash asked Serena.

"What do you mean?" Serena raised her eyebrow.

"I mean, why are you at this camp? Do you want to grow up and become a Pokémon trainer one day?" Ash asked.

"To be honest, I don't really know…" Serena told him.

"Well," Ash said. "When I grow up, I want to be a Pokémon master!"

"How do you do that?" Serena asked.

"Well," Ash thought about it. "I really don't know! I guess that's what would make it so fun!"

"That sounds exciting." Serena told him.

"Well. Here we are!" Ash said, showing Serena to her cabin.

"Oh. Yeah." Serena said, clearly wishing that the cabin was further away. "It was nice getting to-"

"Well, anyway, bye!" Ash said, waving to her while walking away.

 _Okay, Gary. You have beaten me for the last time! Tomorrow, I'm going to make sure I win!_ Ash said, puffing in his chest and pumping his fist into the air.

* * *

The next day was much less windy. There were no clouds in the sky and nothing but the hot rays of sunshine pouring down over the Kanto region.

"Welcome to your second competition!" Professor Oak told everyone. All of the kids were cheering. Gary and Leaf were deviously smiling. But Ash was ready to win.

"Today's competition is a scavenger hunt!" The professor announced. "The Pokémon you will be looking for is called Poliwag! It's small and blue. It's also known as the Tadpole Pokémon. The first team to find one and show it to me will win this competition!"

"Sounds pretty easy if you ask me." Gary smiled.

"Oh yeah. Even Ashy-boy could maybe do this one." Leaf agreed.

"I don't know about that," Gary laughed. "But yeah, it should be simple enough."

"On your mark, get set… GO!" Professor Oak yelled.

Once again, the kids raced off in different directions.

"Excuse me, Professor?" A female lab assistant told Professor Oak. "You have a phone call."

Oak sighed.

"I specifically told Samson not to call me back during this time." Oak told the assistant. "Very well, it is what it is. Counselors, please keep a close eye on the kids again. One of them could get hurt."

"Yeah, I know the drill." The goatee counselor sighed.

"Where are you, Poliwag?" Ash yelled. _I need to find one and fast!_

Serena wandered around the forest. She was far more interested in finding Ash than finding any Pokémon.

"Here, Poliwag! Here, Poliwag!" Ash kept calling. Turning around, he saw a Poliwag running through the forest.

"Aha! Now I've got you in my sights!" Ash smiled, dashing right after the Poliwag.

Looking through the forest, Serena heard rustling leaves.

 _I wonder if that's Ash,_ Serena thought to herself. She saw a shaking bush and began to cautiously approach it.

All of a sudden, the Poliwag that Ash had been chasing leaped out of the bush, which startled Serena.

"AAAAHHHH!" Serena was in shock. She jumped backwards and her right leg hit the ground.

"Poli!" The Poliwag hopped away as fast as it could go.

"I knew I didn't want to come here…" Serena started to tear up.

At that moment, she saw the bush shaking again.

 _Oh no,_ Serena thought. _What is it now?_

"Poliwag?" Ash asked, climbing out of the bush. He saw Serena lying on the ground.

"Hey… are you alright?" Ash asked Serena.

Serena was still in shock.

"What's wrong?" Ash asked.

"I… I hurt my leg…" Serena pointed down to it.

"Don't worry," Ash told her. He pulled a handkerchief out of his right pocket.

"See this? This will make it better!" Ash said, tying the handkerchief around Serena's leg.

"Huh?" Serena asked, as Ash finished knotting the handkerchief.

"All done!" Ash told her.

Serena was clearly still in pain.

"Now, watch this!" Ash told her. He threw his hands up into the air. "Feel better, feel better, right away!"

"It… it still hurts…" Serena told him. "I can't stand up."

"Don't give up 'till it's over, okay!" Ash said. He stood up and extended his hand out.

"Now, come on!" Ash told her. He pulled Serena up off the ground. "There you go!"

Serena looked confused.

"I think we should be getting back to the campsite," Ash told her, holding her hand and walking with her.

"But, don't you need to find Poliwag?" Serena asked.

"It doesn't really matter." Ash said. "I'll worry about that later."

The two of them walked back to the campsite together.

* * *

Time passed and Ash and Serena were back at the campground. They were sitting on a bench together.

"I have an announcement to make!" Professor Oak told everyone. "The blue team managed to find a Poliwag so they win today's competition!"

"Haha! I knew it!" Gary laughed.

"I'm really sorry…" Serena told Ash. She began to start sniveling. "It's all my fault that you lost."

"No way!" Ash said. "Besides, if I lose to Gary, it just motivates me to try harder! I can get back up and try again tomorrow!"

This made Serena smile.

"But if one of my friends is in danger, I can't wait for tomorrow! That's something way more important…" Ash told her.

Now Serena started crying again.

"Hey, look at all those rice balls!" Ash told Serena. "See you later!"

Serena smiled and watched Ash fade away.

* * *

"Wow. I can't believe I almost forgot about that Pokémon camp!" Ash told Serena. "Wait, I thought you were from the Kalos region? What are you doing in Viridian City?"

"Well, once my mother is a retired Rhyhorn racer. Once she learned how many Rhyhorn appear in the Kanto region, she decided that we should move to Viridian City!" Serena answered.

"That's awesome-" Ash began before being interrupted by the loud sound of thunder.

"Perhaps we should finish talking inside." Serena said.

"That's a good idea." Ash said. The two of them ran into the Pokémon Center.

"So, did you get a Pokémon from Professor Oak?" Serena asked.

"Yep!" Ash said. "Come on out, Tangela!" He threw his Poké Ball and Tangela came out into the Pokémon Center.

"Tangel! Tang!" Tangela happily yelled.

"So what about you?" Ash asked. "Did you get a Pokémon?"

"Yep!" Serena nodded. "I'll show you! Come out, Charlotte!"

Serena threw a Poké Ball out and a fiery lizard popped out.

"Char! Char!" Charlotte yelled.

"This is my Charmander! I've decided to call it Charlotte." Serena told Ash.

"Awesome!" Ash told her.

Tangela saw Charlotte's fiery tail and started to panic. It ran away and hid behind a chair.

"Oh, come on, Tangela. Please don't be like that!" Ash said, walking over towards Tangela.

As Ash attempted to comfort Tangela, a man came bursting into the Pokémon Center.

"Please… are you two Pokémon trainers?" The man asked Ash and Serena. He was heavily panting.

"Whoa! Calm down." Nurse Joy said. She and Chansey rushed over to the man.

"What's wrong?" Ash asked.

"Please, you've got to help me, kid. My poor little Sandshrew was playing in my backyard, until two thieves stole my Pokémon!" The man said. "Please! You have to rescue my baby Sandshrew!"

"Where are the thieves now?" Ash asked.

"I- I don't know! They can't be too far away! Please, just rescue my baby Sandshrew! I'm begging you!" The man got on his knees and cried.

"Let's go, Tangela!" Ash told his Tangela. They started running out of the Pokémon Center.

"Tan!" Tangela ran right behind Ash.

"We should go too!" Serena told Charlotte. The two of them ran right behind Ash.

"Don't worry, sir! I will get your Pokémon back. I promise!" Ash said.

"Tan! Tan!" Tangela and Ash ran outside into the storming Viridian City, ready to rescue Sandshrew…


	3. A Sandshrew Rescue!

**A/N: Chapter three is here!**

 _ **The story is interesting so far. Looking forward for your next chapter!**_

Thanks! Hopefully it doesn't disappoint!

 **Now onto the next chapter!**

* * *

"Please, you've got to help me, kid. My poor little Sandshrew was playing in my backyard, until two thieves stole my Pokémon!" The man said. "Please! You have to rescue my baby Sandshrew!"

"Where are the thieves now?" Ash asked.

"I- I don't know! They can't be too far away! Please, just rescue my baby Sandshrew! I'm begging you!" The man got on his knees and cried.

"Let's go, Tangela!" Ash told his Tangela. They started running out of the Pokémon Center.

"Tan!" Tangela ran right behind Ash.

"We should go too!" Serena told Charlotte. The two of them ran right behind Ash.

"Don't worry, sir! I will get your Pokémon back. I promise!" Ash said.

"Tan! Tan!" Tangela and Ash ran outside into the storming Viridian City, ready to rescue Sandshrew. As soon as they were out in the open, they saw tons of people looking up into the sky.

"Mommy, what is that thing?" A kid asked.

"I don't know." A woman said.

"It's a Pidgey!" A man said.

"No, you fool, it's a plane!" Another man said.

"Whoa, Ash!? What do you think that is?" Serena asked, looking up and pointing at the mysterious object in the sky.

"I don't know," Ash said. "It's really storming and impossible to tell!"

"Char…" Charlotte was making it apparent that it did not like the rain.

"Tannnnn…" Tangela was desperately trying not to be pushed back by the wind. It failed in its efforts and Tangela landed straight on its back.

"Ash, c- could it be a hot air balloon?" Serena asked, holding her arm over her face to block all of the wind and rain.

"You're right," Ash told her. "But why would they use a hot air balloon? And why does it resemble a Meowth so much?"

"This was our best idea yet." A woman with dark pink hair said from high in the sky.

"Ah, yes. No one would suspect that we would use a hot air balloon as our means of escape." A purple-haired man replied.

"Yep. Looks like we really hit the jackpot this time. The boss is going to greatly reward us!" A third voice agreed.

The three of them started laughing deviously.

"It's those menaces!" The troubled man told Ash and Serena. "Please, you have to stop the thieves, destroy the hot air balloon and rescue my baby Sandshrew!"

"Tangela! Use Vine Wh-" Ash began, before he realized Tangela was on its back unable to get up.

"Charlotte!" Serena yelled. "Use Ember, now!"

"Char!" Serena's Charmander began to fire small, red bursts of flame from its mouth straight at the hot air balloon. The small pieces of flame began to destroy the top of the balloon.

"What's going on?" The purple-haired man asked.

"I think we're going down!" The strange third voice yelled. The balloon began to lose all of its air and crashed right in the middle of a forest.

"Good job, Char-" Serena began.

"MY SANDSHREW! I hope it's okay!" The troubled man said. He grabbed Ash's hands.

"Please make sure my baby is unharmed!" The man told Ash.

"You sure do care a lot about Sandshrew…" Serena pointed out.

"Well, you see…" The man said. "My name is Dennis. My wife and I got divorced three years ago and she took everything from me."

"What do you mean?" Ash asked.

"She took my house, my kids, my money and most importantly, my… my…" Dennis couldn't hold back his tears any longer.

"My… my big TV!" Dennis started crying.

"This guy should get his priorities straight." Serena whispered to Ash.

"My life is a complete catastrophe and my baby Sandshrew is the only thing keeping it together!" Dennis told the two trainers. "So, please, I just want the two of us to be reunited again. It would make me so happy. I can't even put into words…"

"Don't worry, we'll get your Sandshrew back. You just need to stop being so depressed." Ash smiled.

"J- Just get my Sandshrew back and I will be happy!" Dennis said, crying and sucking his thumb.

"Come on, Serena. We should catch these thieves before they can get away!" Ash said.

"Right behind you!" Serena responded.

"Tangel! Tang!" Tangela added.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the forest, the thieves climbed out of their crashed balloon.

"I can't believe our balloon crashed!" The pink-haired woman yelled.

"I know. This is so uncool." The purple-haired man responded.

"Look on the bright side, guys! We still have our little Sandshrew!" The third voice said.

"Sandshrew! Sand!" The Sandshrew was locked in a cage.

The three villains started laughing.

"Looks like we're still the winners." The pink-haired woman said.

"Yes. No one will find us here." The purple-haired man replied.

"Stop right there!" Ash yelled. He, Serena, Tangela and Charlotte all ran up to the villains.

"And just who do you think you are?" The pink-haired woman asked.

"I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town! And I'm going to be a Pokémon Master one day! But who are you guys?" Ash asked them.

"Well…" The purple-haired man said.

"I guess we'll just have to tell you…" The pink-haired woman smiled.

"Prepare for trouble!" The pink-haired woman said.

"Make it double!" The purple-haired man yelled afterward.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all people within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!" The pink-haired woman yelled.

"James!" The purple-haired man told them.

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!" Jessie said.

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!" James said.

"Meowth! That's right!" The third voice yelled. It turned out that the third voice was actually a talking Meowth.

"Whoa! I've never seen a talking Pokémon before!" Ash pointed out.

"Wait, didn't you pay attention to our motto?" James asked.

"Yeah, you twerp!" Jessie yelled. "We spent a lot of time coming up with those words, you know?"

"Oh, sorry," Ash said. "Wait! You guys need to give Sandshrew back right now!"

"Sorry to make you feel blue," Jessie began.

"But it doesn't belong to you." James finished.

"And that's true!" Meowth added.

"Now get out of our way before we make you get out." Jessie told Ash.

"I guess you'll just have to make me!" Ash said. "Tangela, get ready to fight!"

"Tang!" Tangela jumped in front of Ash.

"Go, Ekans!" Jessie yelled, throwing a Poké Ball out into the field.

"Ekans!" The snake-like Pokémon said.

"I've never seen that Pokémon before!" Ash said. "Let me use that Pokédex that the professor gave me..."

Ash took out his red Pokédex and pointed it towards the opponent.

"Ekans, the Snake Pokémon," The Pokédex said. "The older it gets, the longer it grows. At night, it wraps its long body around tree branches to rest."

"Okay, Tangela, use Vine Whip!" Ash yelled.

"Tan… gela!" Ash's Pokémon stretched its vines out and tried to smack Ekans.

"Ekans, dodge and use Bite!" Jessie commanded.

The Ekans slithered its way past the vines and proceeded to bite the opposing Tangela.

"Tannn!" Tangela said, trying to shake off the attached Pokémon.

"Shake off Ekans and use Constrict!" Ash yelled.

Tangela jumped away from Ekans and wrapped the opponent in its tentacles.

"Great job, Tangela!" Ash yelled.

"I won't let this happen! Ekans, use Poison Sting!" Jessie ordered.

"Ekans!" The Ekans shot tons of tiny poisonous needles at its opponent.

 _This doesn't look too good,_ Ash thought. The sharp toxic needles landed all over Tangela.

"Finish it off with Bite!" Jessie yelled. Ekans nodded. It slithered its way toward Tangela and was about to finish the job.

"Charlotte, use Ember!" Serena yelled. The fearsome Charmander leaped over Tangela's head and attacked Jessie's Ekans before it could even notice.

"Ek…" Ekans said. When the smoke cleared, Jessie's Pokémon had been knocked out.

"My beautiful Pokémon!" Jessie yelled. "That is unfair! Two-on-one is cheating! You are such criminals!"

"You guys stole someone else's Pokémon. Doesn't that make you guys the criminals?" Serena told them.

"S- Shut up! No one has time for your logic!" James told Serena. "Go, Koffing!"

"Koff!" A purple ball of poisonous gas entered the battlefield.

"What is that?" Ash asked, taking out his Pokédex.

"Koffing, the Poison Gas Pokémon," The Pokédex announced. "Its thin, filmy body is filled with gases that cause constant sniffles, coughs and teary eyes."

"Koffing, use Smog!" James yelled.

"Koff!" Koffing discharged tons of disgusting gases from all of the holes in its body.

"Charlotte!" Serena yelled. Charlotte was barely managing to breathe. With all of the terrible gas, Charlotte's lungs began to weaken.

"Tangela, attack Koffing with Vine Whip!" Ash yelled.

"Tang! Tang!" Tangela quickly slapped Koffing repeatedly.

"Don't let them win!" James told his Pokémon.

"Koff!" Koffing kept discharging gas until Tangela couldn't take anymore and had to withdraw behind Ash.

"Now Koffing, use Tackle!" James yelled. The Koffing began to quickly approach Charlotte and rammed right into the opposing Pokémon.

"Charlotte!" Serena yelled, rushing over to it.

"Haha! My Koffing is truly unstoppable!" James laughed.

"Don't get too excited!" Ash yelled. "Tangela, use Vine Whip right now!"

"Tangel! Tangel! Tangel!" Tangela rushed at Koffing once again and smacked it incredibly hard atop the head.

"Koffiing… koff…" James' Koffing fainted and was knocked out.

"My beautiful Pokémon…" James leaned over Koffing. "He will be loved…"

"Come on! I fixed the hot air balloon. Let's get out of here!" Meowth said, grabbing Sandshrew's cage and beginning to run away.

"That's right! We don't accomplish anything by staying here!" James said. He and Jessie hopped in the Meowth-shaped hot air balloon. There was a huge bandage on the left side from where Charlotte had burned the balloon earlier.

"Charlotte, use Ember!" Serena yelled.

"Char!" Charlotte viciously fired flames at the hot air balloon.

"Not again!" Jessie yelled.

"Waaahhh!" Meowth dropped Sandshrew's cage in all of the commotion. It fell out of the balloon and right towards the ground.

"I got it!" Ash yelled, running to catch the cage before it hit the ground. He jumped and managed to catch Sandshrew in midair.

Meanwhile, the hot air balloon spiraled out of control and sent Jessie, James and Meowth flying away.

"Those fools! That Sandshrew belonged to us!" Jessie yelled.

"We'll get them back!" James yelled.

"Team Rocket's blasting off again!" Jessie, James and Meowth yelled before they faded out of sight.

"It's okay, Sandshrew." Ash opened the cage and let Sandshrew walk into Ash's arms. "You're safe now."

"We're going to take you back to your owner now." Serena told Sandshrew. "He misses you a lot."

"San! San!" Sandshrew was filled with joy.

* * *

But no one was as happy as Dennis was.

"Y- You guys rescued my Sandshrew…" Dennis said. He was lying on the floor crying. "I thought… I thought he was gone forever…"

"You two are reunited now!" Ash told Dennis.

"I wish I could reward you somehow…" Dennis said. "I don't have any money or anything to give you…"

"Actually, I'm on my way to Pewter City," Ash said. "Do you know how to get there?"

"Huh? Pewter City? Let me think…" Dennis said. "You have to go down Route 2 and then enter Viridian Forest. Once you leave the forest, you should be in Pewter City!"

"Thanks for all your help." Ash told Dennis.

"I should be thanking you!" Dennis said. "Come on, Sandshrew, let's go home."

Dennis and his Sandshrew decided to head home.

"Well, Serena," Ash said. He looked depressed. "I guess it's time for me to go."

"Y… Yeah…" Serena was really disappointed.

"Goodbye!" Ash told her. He waved and walked away.

 _This is just like before,_ Serena realized. _But, I'm stronger than I was three years ago. I can't… I can't just let this happen to me again!_

"Wait!" Serena yelled. "I… I want to come with you!"

"Huh?" Ash asked. He was startled by what he had just heard.

"I want to come with you on your journey." Serena said, running up to Ash.

"You do?" Ash asked.

"Yes. I can't just live all of my life waiting in fear!" Serena said. "I want to have an adventure!"

"Okay then!" Ash said. "The two of us will journey around the Kanto region… together!"

"All right!" Serena and Ash high-fived.

"I have to go back to my house and pack my things…" Serena told Ash. "Just meet me back here at the Pokémon Center in one hour, okay?"

"Got it!" Ash told her. "See you then!"

 _Wow,_ Serena thought. Her heart was racing faster than it ever had before. _I can't believe I'm really going to do this!_

* * *

"Hey, Ash!" Dennis yelled. "There's one thing I forgot to mention! It's extremely important!"

"Yeah, what is it?" Ash asked.

"Look," Dennis whispered. "When you go to Viridian Forest, do not stop at the old cottage, okay?"

"What? Why?" Ash asked.

"Because-" Dennis began.

"Excuse me," Nurse Joy interrupted Ash and Dennis' conversation. "Ash, your mother wanted to call you. She said it was extremely important."

Ash sighed.

"I have to go, Dennis." Ash said. "Knowing my mom, she's probably going to nag me about changing my underwear and brushing my teeth."

"Just remember what I told you, okay?" Dennis instructed.

"I will!" Ash told him. "Bye, Dennis!"

"Goodbye, Ash!" Dennis and Sandshrew waved back to him.

* * *

Meanwhile, Serena was at her house. She was sitting on the sofa with her mother and they were talking to each other.

"What do you think, mom?" Serena asked.

"So… let me make sure I understand all of this." Grace told Serena. "You want to go out on a journey now?"

"Please, mom?" Serena begged.

"I'm going to miss having you here, Serena. I hope you realize that," Grace said. "But…"

Serena's eyes lit up.

"But if you want to go on a journey, I guess I can't really stop you, now can I?" Grace said.

"Thank you, mom!" Serena hugged her mother tightly.

"Just don't get yourself into any trouble, okay? I don't want Officer Jenny to come to my house and say my daughter got arrested." Grace said.

"Don't worry, mom! I won't! That's a promise!" Serena told her mom. She grabbed a bag and waved goodbye.

"Oh, I remember when I was her age." Grace told her Rhyhorn. "All of the boys used to call me Amazing Grace!"

Rhyhorn snorted.

* * *

 _Where's Serena?_ Ash wondered. He was pacing around nervously. _It's almost been two hours. And she's still not here…_

"Tan!" Tangela was confused as well.

 _Maybe she chickened out,_ Ash thought. _Would she really do that?_

"Ash!" Serena yelled, waving to him. Charlotte was following close behind.

"What took you so long?" Ash asked.

Serena slapped him across the face.

"Ow…" Ash told her, rubbing his left cheek.

"Ready to go?" Serena asked.

"I guess so…" Ash said, still rubbing his cheek. "We're off to Pewter City! I'm going to get my first gym badge!"

"Tan! Tan!" Tangela excitedly yelled.

Ash, Serena, Tangela and Charlotte walked into the distance and officially began their long journey across the Kanto region… together.


	4. Pidgey Takes Flight!

**A/N: Enjoy the chapter!**

Ash and his Tangela were standing on the grassy plains of Route 2 battling a wild Rattata. The trainer looked very determined and was ready to make his move.

"Tangela, use Vine Whip!" Ash commanded.

"Tang!" Tangela attacked the wild Rattata with a flurry of ferocious vines.

The Rattata became angered and started to use Focus Energy. It concentrated and began to glow a light red color.

"What's it doing?" Serena asked Ash.

"I don't know," Ash was confused as well. "Maybe I should use my Pokédex to check this Pokémon out."

"Rattata, the Mouse Pokémon." The Pokédex revealed. "Rattata is cautious in the extreme. Even while it is asleep, it constantly listens by moving its ears around. It is not picky about where it lives and it will make its nest anywhere."

"It will make its nest right inside my Poké Ball!" Ash yelled. "Tangela, use Vi-"

Before Tangela could react, Rattata leaped at Tangela with powerful force and used Bite right on Tangela.

"Tan…" Tangela got back up, but was too dizzy and fell back over.

"Rat! Rat!" Rattata scurried off into the distance.

"Dang it!" Ash said, kicking a tree. A bunch of berries landed on his head.

"I almost had it!" Ash professed. Meanwhile, Tangela was inspecting the berries that had fallen.

"Don't worry!" Serena told Ash. "I'm sure you'll get one next time!"

"That was the fourth time I battled one of those," Ash said. "I need to find a way to become a stronger trainer…"

* * *

As the two trainers spoke to each other, Jessie, James and Meowth were all hiding in a bush listening to their conversation.

"I can't believe that twerp managed to defeat us and rescue Sandshrew!" Meowth said.

"Agreed." James said.

"He simply got lucky," Jessie stated. "This time, we will capture Tangela and Charmander too!"

"Oh yes," James liked the idea. "The boss will greatly reward us for locating such valuable Pokémon."

* * *

Suddenly, everyone heard a voice coming from the north.

"Get 'em, Spearow!"

"You got this, Rattata!"

Ash and Serena walked over and saw two trainers having a Pokémon battle. One of the trainers was using a Rattata and the other was using a strange bird-like Pokémon that Ash hadn't seen before.

"Who's that, I wonder?" Ash took out his Pokédex and began to identify the mysterious creature.

"Spearow, the Tiny Bird Pokémon." The Pokédex revealed. "Spearow is very protective of its territory. It flaps its short wings busily to dart around at high speed."

"Spearow, use Peck!" Spearow's trainer yelled. His Pokémon continuously struck Rattata with a large amount of pecking attacks.

"Hold on, Rattata!" The other trainer yelled. "You can do this!"

 _Whoa,_ Ash said. _I always love being able to see a Pokémon battle up close like this!_

"Rattata, use Bite!" The rat Pokémon attempted to gnaw Spearow, but the bird flew up into the air, catching Rattata off guard. Spearow then proceeded to swoop back down and peck Rattata.

"Rattata!" Rattata's trainer realized he had lost the battle and withdrew his Pokémon.

"Watching our battle, were ya?" Spearow's trainer waved to Ash.

"Do you mind if I battle you?" Ash asked.

"Is that cool with ya, Doug?" Spearow's trainer asked Rattata's trainer.

"Yeah, go ahead. I'm going to sit here and let Rattata rest for a little while." Doug replied.

"I'm always itching or a fight." Spearow's trainer nodded. "The name's Finn, by the way. Nice to meet ya."

Finn had curly brown hair, a puffy green jacket and blue jeans.

"I'm Ash," Ash was smiling and ready to battle. "I'm going to be a Pokémon master one day!"

"Well then," Finn said. "You'll have to get through me first!"

Finn took out his Poké Ball and was all set to battle.

"Ya ready, Ash?" Finn said. "I don't plan on going easy on ya."

"Ready whenever you are." Ash said. "Let's get him, Tangela!"

"Tangel! Tangel! Tan!" Tangela jumped in front of Ash and was prepared for a fight.

"Get him, Spearow!" Finn yelled. Spearow looked just as determined as Tangela.

"This is going to be awesome!" Ash said. _Now that I think about it, this is really my first time having a one-on-one battle with a trainer. I have to give this my all!_

"You can do it, Ash!" Serena yelled.

"Char! Char!" Charlotte chimed in.

"Looks like ya got your own cheering squad, Ash." Finn said. "A'ight, Spearow, use Fury Attack!"

Spearow charged towards Tangela and was ready to attack with its beak.

"Tangela, jump back!" Ash yelled. "And use Vine Whip!"

Tangela leapt back, but before it could use Vine Whip, Spearow was already too close to Tangela.

"Now, use Fury Attack! Go! Go!" Finn yelled. Spearow began to barrage Tangela with swift but powerful beak attacks.

"Which one do you think will win?" Doug asked Serena.

Doug had straight caramel hair, a blue hoodie and black cargo pants. He was also wearing a black baseball cap.

"I know Ash can win!" Serena said.

"Char!" Charlotte agreed.

As the two of them watched the battle, thoughts were forming in Ash's head.

 _Tangela's in trouble,_ Ash thought. _But what can I do to help it out?_

"Tangela, just get out of there!" Ash yelled.

Tangela tried to run and escape, but Spearow used Pursuit and was too fast.

"You can run from me…" Finn told Ash. "But ya sure can't hide!"

 _Tangela is cornered no matter what,_ Ash realized. _I have to come up with a way to shake Spearow off…_

"A'ight, go, Spearow! Use Peck!" Finn yelled.

"It's looking pretty bad for Ash right now." Doug said.

"It's also not over yet…" Serena reminded Doug.

"Spear! Spearow! Spear!" Spearow flew upwards, then screeched and dove towards Tangela.

 _Wait, I've got an idea!_ A light bulb went off inside Ash's head.

"Tangela, use Constrict on Spearow's wings!" Ash yelled.

"I wonder what he's trying to do…" Serena said quietly. Charlotte was confused as well.

"It's a risky attack," Doug said. "However, he'll lose if he doesn't think of something…"

"Ratta! Tata! Rat!" Rattata began cheering for Tangela.

Tangela tried to use vines to squeeze Spearow's wings to stop it mid-flight, but the plan failed and Spearow crashed right into Tangela.

"A'ight, it's been fun." Finn said. "But I gotta get serious right about now! Spearow, use Fury Attack.

Tangela tried to hold its own in the fight, but Spearow overpowered the weaker Pokémon. Tangela was pretty injured and the winner was clear.

"The victory goes to… Finn and his Spearow!" Doug yelled.

"Dang it!" Ash yelled, comforting Tangela. Serena stood right by him.

"Ya did pretty good, Spearow. Same to ya, Ash." Finn said. "Now, we better be on our way, right, Doug?"

"Yeah, absolutely." Doug nodded. "But you know, we were just about to take a lunch break if you wanted to join us!"

"Yeah!" Ash exclaimed. "We need a break, don't we, Serena?"

"Sure!" Serena agreed.

* * *

Ash, Serena, Finn and Doug were all sitting on a picnic blanket. All of the guys were eating like pigs and finished all of their sandwiches before Serena even took a bite.

"Even the Pokémon don't eat that fast…" Serena pointed out. Tangela, Charlotte, Finn's Spearow and Doug's Rattata were all chowing down on Pokémon food.

"What are you talking about?" Ash said with his mouth full. "I'm not eating that fast, am I?"

Serena sighed.

"So, have you had any luck catching Pokémon?" Finn asked Ash. "I tell ya, the wild Pokémon around here are pretty tough…"

"Yeah, I haven't caught anything yet." Ash said. "But that won't stop me from trying!"

"That's the spirit!" Finn exclaimed.

* * *

"Just looking at those twerps eat is making me sick." Jessie said. "Right?"

Jessie turned to her right and saw James and Meowth enviously catching a whiff of the sandwiches.

"You guys are all the same." Jessie said. "Not many people can have the female beauty and delicacy that I possess."

"Thank goodness." Meowth added.

"What did you just say?" Jessie started chasing after Meowth, while James let out a deep sigh.

* * *

As Tangela was eating, a wild Pidgey swooped in from out of nowhere and grabbed a piece of Tangela's food.

"Tan!" Tangela was angry.

"It's a wild Pidgey..." Finn pointed out.

"Not for long," Ash stood up. "Because I am going to catch it right now!"

"Tangel! Tang!" Tangela was ready to battle once again.

"I should take a look at this Pokémon for sure…" Ash took out his Pokédex and observed his opponent.

"Pidgey, the Tiny Bird Pokémon," The Pokédex revealed. "It is docile and prefers to avoid conflict. If disturbed, however, it can ferociously strike back."

"Okay, so we need to get this guy on the ground…" Ash said. He took some Pokémon food and poured it in a bowl.

"Here, Pidgey!" Ash yelled.

"I see…" Doug said. "Ash is attempting to lure Pidgey in using Pokémon food…"

"Do you think it will work?" Serena asked.

"Of course it will." Finn chimed in. "I just know it."

Pidgey caught a whiff of the Pokémon food's incredible smell. It couldn't help but fly towards the scene.

"Now we just have to wait for the perfect moment." Ash said.

"Tang!" Tangela was ready to attack.

As soon as Pidgey landed, Tangela began attacking with a fearless group of Vine Whips.

"Haha! Awesome job, Tangela!" Ash said.

However, Pidgey defended itself by kicking sand up into Tangela's eyes.

"Pi! Pi!" Pidgey cried and began to fly away.

Tangela shook all of the sand off and its accuracy was back to normal.

"Okay, Tangela, don't let it fly away! Use Constrict and grab its wings right now!" Ash yelled.

"He's trying it again!?" Serena was shocked.

"It might work this time." Doug pointed out. "Look at Ash."

Ash was looking fearsome. Determination was filling in his eyes.

 _I'm tired of battling wild Pokémon and seeing them get away,_ Ash said. _Today, I will capture that Pidgey and I will win this battle!_

Tangela successfully latched its vines around Pidgey's wings.

"Slam it down!" Ash screamed.

Tangela began to pull Pidgey crashing into the ground. The small bird smacked into the ground.

"Go, Poké Ball!" Ash threw a Poké Ball at the dazed and confused Pidgey. With a red glow, Pidgey became trapped inside the small ball.

The ball wiggled once.

It wiggled a second time.

Then, it wiggled a third time and Pidgey was caught.

"Awesome! I caught a Pidgey!" Ash yelled, holding his Poké Ball up in the air. Tangela was cheering as well.

"Great job, Ash!" Serena high-fived Ash.

* * *

"He actually did it!" Jessie said. Tears were forming in her eyes.

"Would you look at that?" Meowth was also in tears.

All three members of Team Rocket huddled together and cried tears of joy.

* * *

"A'ight, it's starting to get late." Finn said, scratching his head. "And Doug and I were hoping to get to Viridian City before the sun goes down."

"Oh, so you guys are going to Viridian? We were hoping you'd come with us to Pewter City!" Ash told them.

"Sorry, Ash," Finn said. "I'm sure we'll meet again one day, ya? You just keep training and I'll do the same."

"Will do!" Ash and Finn shook hands.

"Bye, you guys!" Doug put his backpack on and waved goodbye. "Sorry to interrupt your date!"

"Date?" Ash was confused.

"Yeah, you and Serena are together, right?" Doug asked.

Serena was more red than a tomato.

"Oh, no, it's nothing like that!" Ash smiled. He put his arm around Serena's shoulder. "We're just buddies, right, Serena?"

"Oh yeah, of course!" Serena smiled. She was feeling tons of different emotions mixed into one.

"I told ya not to ask," Finn said. "Now you've made everything really uncomfortable…"

"Sorry, not sorry!" Doug ran away and Finn chased after him.

"Well, we should get going. I think Viridian Forest is just up ahead." Ash told Serena.

"Uh, um, right! Let's go! Full speed ahead!" Serena ran right behind Ash, and the two of them headed to Viridian Forest with their Pokémon.


	5. Fulfilling a False Wish!

**A/N: Chapter five is here! Ash is getting closer to his first gym battle! But he's not there quite yet...**

* * *

Our two heroes continued to traverse down Route 2 towards Viridian Forest.

"I'm so exciiiiiiiited! We're almost at Viridian City! And after that comes my first gym battle!" Ash yelled. He threw his arms in the air.

"Tang! Tang!" Tangela added.

"We should be at the forest soon." Serena was reading a map. "It looks like it should only be a few steps farther-"

"I see it!" Ash yelled. He took off super quickly and ran to an old, white building. There was a sign labeled 'Viridian Forest: Southern Entrance'.

"This is it, Serena!" Ash waved her over.

"I can't run that fast, Ash!" Serena reminded him. She quickly sped over to him and was out of breath.

"This forest is the only thing keeping me from Pewter City!" Ash said, fist pumping. "So let's hurry!"

"Excuse me?" A voice asked from behind Ash and Serena. "You're a Pokémon trainer, right?"

"Yeah. I'm Ash Ketchum, future Pokémon master!" Our hero proclaimed.

"My name is Oliver." It was a young boy who wore a straw hat, a green shirt and khaki pants. "I wanted to ask you guys a favor."

"Huh? What is it?" Ash asked.

"Well, you see… I really need to catch a Pokémon for myself." Oliver explained.

"I'd love to help you out…" Ash said. "But I really have to get to Pewter City."

As Ash and Serena turned around, Oliver got on his knees.

"Look, you… you… have to help me." Oliver said. "M- My mom is growing deathly ill… and it's her last wish to see me catch a Pokémon for myself…"

"That's terrible…" Serena was heartbroken.

"So please… I just… I just really need your help…" Oliver began to cry.

"All right," Ash said. "If it means that much to you, I can't very well say no!"

"T- Thank you!" Oliver got off his knees and hugged Ash, then moved to Serena and hugged her as well.

"Hey, it seems like it means a lot to your mom, so I suppose it wouldn't be a problem." Ash told Oliver.

"You have no idea how much this means to me. So thank you!" Oliver said.

* * *

Ash, Serena and Oliver all entered Viridian Forest. It was a lighthearted, lush forest full of grass and trees. There were tons of Butterfree flying around and spreading happiness all over the forest.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Oliver said. "Now, let's find a Pokémon!"

"Right!" Ash replied.

"You are old enough, aren't you?" Serena noticed that Oliver was very short and skinny for someone old enough to be a Pokémon trainer.

"Of course! I'm ten years old!" Oliver explained.

"So you're as old as we are!" Ash smiled.

"Hey, there's a Pokémon, guys! I- It's right there!" Oliver pointed to a small bug Pokémon.

"Who's that?" Ash scratched his head and took out his Pokédex.

"Caterpie!" Oliver yelled.

"The Worm Pokémon," The Pokédex explained. "For protection, it releases a horrible stench from the antennae on its head to drive away enemies."

"You have to catch it!" Oliver said. "You have to, you have to!"

"All right, go get 'em, Tangela!" Ash commanded.

"Tangel! Tang!" Tangela jumped into battle.

"Use Constrict!" Ash yelled, as Tangela jumped and tried to grab Tangela.

The Caterpie used String Shot to put webs into Tangela's eyes. The Caterpie began to inch away while Tangela was blinded.

"Tangela, you have to shake it off!" Ash yelled. As Tangela regained sight, Ash's Pokémon dashed towards Caterpie.

"Awesome job!" Ash yelled. "Use Constrict!"

Caterpie tried to run, but Tangela extended its vines and pulled Caterpie right in.

"Go, Poké Ball!" Ash yelled. He threw the ball towards the wild Pokémon.

The ball wiggled once.

It wiggled a second time.

Then, it wiggled a third time and Caterpie was caught.

"Awesome job, Tangela!" Ash said, picking up Caterpie's Poké Ball.

"You know," Ash told Oliver. "I might catch one of these myself."

"Thank you so much," Oliver was jumping in midair and smiling cheerfully. "You have no idea how much this means to me!"

"It's not a problem." Ash told him. "Why don't we all go to your mother's hous-"

"Oh, you don't have to do that!" Oliver quickly responded. "Like, I've certainly already put you through enough trouble already!"

"Are you sure?" Ash asked.

"Yes!" Oliver exclaimed. "Thank you so much! Bye now! I bet this guy will be great at winning battles!"

Oliver bolted as soon as he received Caterpie.

"Oliver's a nice kid." Ash said. "We should have a battle sometime."

 _Something doesn't seem to add up,_ Serena thought. _If Oliver's mother is so deathly ill, then how can Oliver still be so excited?_

"Something wrong?" Ash asked Serena.

"No." Serena said. "We should go to Pewter City now, right?"

"Right!" Ash grinned. "Off we go!"

* * *

The two of them continued through the forest, but they were far from safe.

"I hate Viridian Forest," Jessie said. "It gets bugs in my hair."

"Agreed." Meowth said. "I can't scratch all of these bug bites at once."

"So, it looks like the twerps are lost." James said. "This might be time for us to try our new Team Rocket branded mecha suit."

"I could get used to that idea." Meowth agreed with the plan.

* * *

"Hello there! Travelers! How is everything going?" A voice asked from behind.

* * *

"Every time that we go to attack, someone interrupts!" Meowth said.

"It's very rude." James pointed out.

* * *

"Huh? Hi..." Ash said.

"You're Ash and Serena, right? I just wanted to thank you for helping my boy Oliver. I'm his father."

"Oh, well you're welcome. It was really no problem at all…" Ash said. "We were happy to help given his current situation and everything-"

"It was very honorable to assist him." Oliver's father pointed out. "I'll get out of your way now."

"Tell your wife we wish her good luck!" Ash yelled to him.

"You must be mistaken." Oliver's dad turned around. "My wife died two years ago."

"But, that's impossible." Ash said. "Oliver was just-"

"I think... I think Oliver tricked us." Serena whispered. "I… I had my suspicions… but-"

"Can we please see Oliver?" Ash asked Oliver's father.

"Absolutely!" Oliver's dad yelled. "Just follow me!"

 _I can't believe Oliver would swindle us just so we would help him catch a Pokémon,_ Ash sighed. _That isn't right._

* * *

Oliver's father showed Ash and Serena to Oliver's house. It was a small wooden shack right at the southern end of Viridian Forest.

"There's Oliver with a few of his friends." Oliver's father said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go get a soda pop."

Oliver was surrounded by a group of taller ten-year old kids.

"I caught a Pokémon, Daxton!" Oliver told his friend. "I proved you wrong!"

Daxton had tall blonde hair and a black leather jacket. As he talked, he was chewing on a strawberry lollipop. This tough guy also had a Zubat traveling with him.

"That's a really pathetic Pokémon." Daxton said, licking his lollipop obsessively. "I'd wager to say it doesn't really count."

"What do you mean, Daxton?" Oliver asked. "That's not what we agreed to!"

"I don't really care." Daxton said.

"But you said to me, Daxton! You told me that if I caught a Pokémon, that I could join your Pokémon club!" Oliver said. He got on his knees and begged for what he thought he deserved.

"Would you shut up already?" Daxton was growing impatient.

"You lied to me-" Before Oliver could finish, Daxton kicked Oliver in the face with his rough, black combat boot. Oliver fell to the ground and began to cry.

"Let's go, you guys." Daxton and his group of friends left Oliver alone.

Ash and Serena witnessed the entire conversation and ran over to Oliver.

"Oh… no…" Oliver instantly became worried when he saw our heroes.

"So, that's the real reason you wanted to catch Caterpie, huh?" Ash asked Oliver, helping him up.

"I'm sorry that I lied! I- It was the only way I could get you to help me!" Oliver said. "I just wanted… I just wanted to be appreciated…"

"It's fine," Ash told Oliver. "Trust me. That guy and his attitude remind me of one of my rivals back from Pallet Town."

"It's just, why do people always look down on me?" Oliver asked Ash. He tried to hold back tears, but he was failing. "I'm short, I'm weak and I'm clumsy. And my dad has been so stressed out ever since Mom died two years ago…"

"Hey, shorty! So my friends and I reached a mutual agreement." Daxton grabbed Oliver by the neck. "We've decided that we're just going to be taking Caterpie as well. Hope you don't mind."

"Hey!" Ash shoved Daxton. "You guys need to leave."

"Who are you exactly?" Daxton asked, approaching Ash and Oliver. Serena and Tangela stood back with the rest of Daxton's friends.

"I'm Ash Ketchum, and I'm going to be a-"

"You know what?" Daxton interrupted. "I really could care less. Zubat, let's get these losers!"

"Fine. A one-on-one battle sounds good!" Ash told Daxton.

"Who said anything about one-on-one?" Daxton laughed as his posse began to form a large circle surrounding Ash.

"What are we going to do?" Serena asked Ash and Oliver.

As Daxton and his group of friends prepared to gang up on Serena, Ash and Oliver, a giant mech appeared.

"Surprise!" James yelled. He controlled the left arm of the mech and created a circular shield, trapping Serena, Tangela and all of Daxton's friends.

"What just happened?" Oliver realized that he, Ash and Daxton were the only ones not trapped.

"We just happened!" Meowth answered.

"Who are you punks anyway?" Daxton asked.

"Prepare for trouble!" Jessie said.

"Make it double!" James added.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all people within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!" Jessie said.

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!" James said.

"Meowth! That's right!" Meowth chimed in.

"It's those guys again!" Ash yelled. "The same ones who took a Sandshrew!"

"Which you so rudely took back!" James yelled. "We never quite thanked you for that, did we? It's never too late, I see."

"All right! Pidgey, I choose you!" Ash yelled.

"I don't need your dumb Pidgey to help me!" Daxton told Ash. "Zubat, use Leech Life!"

"That won't work!" Jessie used the right hand of the mech to swat Zubat into a tree, causing the Pokémon to faint.

"Pidgey, use Sand-Attack!" Ash ordered. Pidgey proceeded to kick sand towards the eyes of the mechanical robot.

"I can't see!" Jessie yelled.

"Luckily, I installed windshield wipers!" Meowth laughed as he scraped away all of the sand. Jessie used the right arm to flick Pidgey away.

"Pidgey!" Ash ran over to his Pokémon.

"We have to do this, Caterpie!" Oliver yelled.

"Pie!" Caterpie agreed. The small bug was ready to battle.

"Caterpie, use… uh…" Oliver began to tense up when he saw the size of the mech.

"What are you standing there for?" Daxton yelled. "Do something!"

"I… I just can't…" Oliver said.

"Caterpie!" Ash yelled. "Listen up. Use String Shot on that right hand!"

Caterpie attached a long line of string to the right arm.

"How dare you!" Jessie said. She tried to move the arm, but she ended up flinging the arm back at Team Rocket's mech, making a huge dent in the front.

"Meowth, full speed ahead!" James yelled.

As the mech darted forward, Oliver had an idea.

"Caterpie, use String Shot on the right leg!" Oliver yelled. Caterpie obeyed and the string caused the entire mech to trip while running. The entire mech lost balance and tumbled to the side, freeing Serena, Tangela and all of Daxton's friends.

"We can still fight!" Meowth said. Turning around, he saw that the mech was on fire.

"It's gonna blow!" Jessie yelled. The three of them ran out of the mech and towards Ash as fast as they could, but the mech exploded and sent them all flying.

"Team Rocket's blasting off again!" They all yelled.

"That'll teach them a lesson." Ash sighed. "Right, Oliver-"

"That was so awesome, Oliver!" All of Daxton's friends were cheering on Oliver.

"We've made a decision," Daxton told Oliver. "You should totally join our group!"

"You would really want me?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah!" Daxton yelled. "You were awesome!"

"Let's do it!" Oliver screamed.

"Wait, but isn't that guy totally rude!?" Serena asked Ash. "Why would Oliver want to hang out with-"

"This is gonna be epic!" Daxton told Oliver. He grabbed Oliver and lifted him into the air. "You and Caterpie are going to be an awesome addition to our group!"

"Well… about that…" Oliver said. "Ash, I think you should take Caterpie."

"Huh?" Ash asked. "Why me?"

"You did catch it for me." Oliver said. "And this Caterpie was made for amazing things! If you want to beat all of the Pokémon gyms, then you should bring it with you!"

"Caterpie, do you want to come with me?" Ash asked.

Caterpie looked both ways and thought about it. The Pokémon inched its way to Ash and nodded.

"All right! That means I have three Pokémon now!" Ash yelled.

"Wait," Daxton said. "I- If you don't have a Pokémon, Oliver, then what will you do in our club?"

"Good question," Oliver pointed out. "I guess I could be… the offensive attack coordinator!"

"I…" Daxton paused. He licked his lollipop faster than ever. "...love it!"

All of the kids in the group put their hands in and cheered.

Oliver's father sat on the porch and looked at all the kids. He looked at a picture of his wife.

"I know you'd be proud of Oliver." Oliver's dad sighed as he spoke to himself. "You're the only family I have left, Oliver. I need to start treating you that way…"

"Oh wow," Serena looked at the sky. "It's getting really dark out. We should get going, Ash."

"I agree." Ash said. "Bye, Oliver!"

"Bye! I'll never forget you guys!" Oliver yelled.

As Ash and Serena disappeared into the distance, Oliver was sad.

"Come on, Oliver! Let's go find some puny kids and show them what we're all about!" Daxton yelled.

"Yeah!" Oliver yelled.

"So you have quite the collection of Pokémon now..." Serena told Ash.

"I know! I can hardly wait to challenge the Pewter City gym! It's gonna be really epic!" Ash yelled.

Our two heroes proceeded deeper into the Viridian Forest. With Ash's first gym battle approaching soon, Ash knew he had to be ready. But there would still be one more hurdle before he could arrive in Pewter City...


	6. Terror of the Toxic Sting!

**A/N: Chapter six is here! If you like this story, don't forget to hit that Follow button so you'll never miss a chapter!**

* * *

As Ash and Serena continued to walk through Viridian Forest, they began to notice that they were getting deeper into the woodland. The area had a very dark and gloomy aura to it. Every tree was strikingly tall and the green leaves blocked any traces of the sky.

"I never would've guessed that this forest would be so huge!" Ash pointed out.

"It's kinda creepy in here…" Serena noticed. She was shivering when she felt a sudden gust of wind drifting through the air.

"Tangela and I aren't scared of anything, right, Tange-" Ash turned around and saw Tangela hiding behind Serena.

"What's wrong?" Ash asked. He turned back around and saw two Beedrill flying around the forest.

 _I get it,_ Ash realized. _Tangela's scared because of that day when we first met each other…_

Ash thought back in time to when Tangela rescued him from a Beedrill.

* * *

 _"Bee! Bee!" A Beedrill showed up behind Ash. Tangela saw the Beedrill and started to panic._

 _"What's wrong?" Ash asked._

 _"Bee!" The Beedrill tried to puncture Ash with its stinger, but Tangela hit the Beedrill with Vine Whip._

 _"Tangela…" Ash said. "You saved me…"_

 _"Tan!" Tangela let out a happy noise._

 _"Now, let's go home." Ash said. Turning around, he saw about twenty Beedrill ready to attack him._

 _"OH NO!" Ash yelled before the Beedrill all began to attack him._

* * *

Ash was back in the present.

 _Tangela must be worried because of those other Beedrill,_ Ash said.

"Don't worry, Tangela." Ash bent down and rubbed Tangela on the head. "Everything's going to be just fine, okay? These Beedrill are friendly. We just have to be sure not to alert them."

Ash, Tangela and Serena ducked down in order to avoid detection.

"Just stay quiet…" Ash said. As they turned around a corner, they saw at least thirty more Beedrill all flying around and swarming with each other.

"Look at all of those Beedrill…" Serena pointed out.

"Why are there so many?" Ash wondered aloud.

"I don't know…" Serena answered. "We shouldn't stick around long enough to find out!"

As the two trainers were walking, Tangela loudly stepped on a branch, causing Ash and Serena to tilt their heads backwards.

"Tangela!" Ash whispered loudly. "Don't alert them!"

Hearing the commotion, the Beedrill began to form around Ash, Serena and Tangela.

"Hey, I think this would be a good time to run for our lives!" Serena yelled. Everyone ran away to avoid getting caught by the Beedrill.

The Beedrill began to start shooting small toxic needles towards Ash and his friends.

"Just keep running!" Ash yelled.

"Tangela! Tang! Tang!" Tangela followed closely behind the two trainers.

"Here, let's hide in this bush!" Ash yelled. Everyone dove into the bush and all the Beedrill flew by.

"That was a close one…" Serena let out a deep sigh of relief.

"It looks like we're safe." Ash pointed out. All of the Beedrill were gone for the moment.

"Yeah-" Serena began. As she took a breather, a wild Beedrill appeared right behind her and was about to attack.

"Look out, Serena!" As the Beedrill shot an array of dangerous stinging needles, Ash jumped towards Serena and got her out of the way.

"Ash! Are you alright?" Serena ran towards Ash. The Beedrill decided to search elsewhere and left the heroes alone.

"Yeah, I'm good." Ash said, waving his left hand in the air. "I have to say, I was really horrified for a minute!"

"Yeah, me too…" Serena sighed. _Ash saved me again,_ Serena realized. As she looked at him, Serena noticed that Ash's right arm had a poisonous needle inside it. The arm was beginning to swell up.

"Are you feeling okay, Ash?" Serena asked.

"Yeah, I feel… perfectly normal…" Ash was beginning to become really tired and low on energy. "Just… a little… tired…"

Ash then proceeded to faint right next to Serena.

"Ash! Wake up!" Serena told him.

 _This isn't good,_ Serena thought. _I'm out here in the middle of nowhere and Ash got poisoned… what do I do in this situation?_

Serena began digging in Ash's bag.

"Come on, there has to be an antidote somewhere…" Serena continued to rummage through the bag, but there was no medicine to be found.

"Why doesn't Ash carry any potions? He's so irresponsible…" Serena put the bag back onto Ash's back and sighed.

 _What do I do?_ Serena wondered. _I have to get help from someone…_

"Tan! Tan!" Tangela used its vines to point to a small cottage in the middle of the forest.

"There's someone in the middle of this forest!?" Serena was excited. She started putting her shoulder and around Ash and slowly carried him towards the house. After reaching the house, she calmly knocked on the door.

"Please!" Serena said. "I need help…"

As Serena looked at the cream-colored cottage, she noticed that the house looked as if it was forgotten by time. All of the windows were boarded up.

 _There's not anyone here,_ Serena realized.

"May I help you?" A short, elderly lady answered the door. Serena couldn't tell if the woman had squinty eyes, or if she was actually just sleeping.

"Miss, I'm sorry to bother you, but I need your help. My friend was poisoned by a Beedrill and now he's unconscious!" Serena explained.

"Oh yes! Please, come on in!" The old lady told Serena. "I'll make something for him as quick as I can."

"Thank you so much!" Serena bowed to the old woman.

"Now please, make yourself at home." The woman said. "I'll make something for you as well!"

"Oh no, that won't be necessary-" Serena shook her head.

"Would you like muffins or brownies?" The old woman asked.

"I don't really need anythi-"

"Oh, I hardly ever get visitors. I'll just make both!" The old lady smiled.

 _This kind woman seems to enjoy company,_ Serena thought. _I wonder if she's all alone out here…_

Looking around the cottage, Serena realized there were no pictures of any family members.

"Here you go!" The old lady said, putting muffins onto the table. "Made with love in every spoonful!"

"T- Thank you!" Serena said.

"My pleasure!" The old lady said. "You should let your Pokémon out as well. I'm just dying to get to know all of them!"

"Oh, sure! That's a fantastic idea!" Serena agreed. "Come on out, Charlotte!"

Charlotte came out of its Poké Ball and looked around the cottage.

"I should get Ash's Pokémon too." Serena realized. She dug through Ash's bag and let Pidgey and Caterpie out of their balls.

"Pidg!" Pidgey yelled as it came out of its Poké Ball.

"Cater! Caterpie!" Caterpie added.

"Wonderful!" The old lady exclaimed. "They look so adorable!"

"You know, I never got your name." Serena said. "I'm Serena."

"Oh, you can just call me Granny Tegan." The old woman replied.

"So you're a grandmother then?" Serena asked.

Before Granny Tegan could answer, a loud beeping noise could be heard.

"Oh, my Pecha Berry soup must be ready!" The elder grabbed a huge pot out of her oven.

"What's this young fella's name?" Tegan asked.

"Oh, he's Ash." Serena answered.

"Ash? He's a fine young lad." Tegan replied. She got a large spoon and began to pour the Pecha soup into Ash's mouth. "Open up, Ash!"

 _I bet Granny Tegan was a really nice grandmother,_ Serena thought. _She's certainly one of the nicest people I've ever met-_

"I have an idea!" Tegan yelled. "Why don't I bring Tangela and the other Pokémon into the other room? I'll give them some of ol' Tegan's finest Pokémon food!"

"You're really too kind…" Serena explained.

"Nonsense!" Tegan replied. "Treat others the way you would like to be treated, isn't that right, Serena?"

"I… I suppose…" Serena admitted.

As Tegan went into the other room, Serena walked over and put her hand on Ash's forehead.

 _His whole body is burning up,_ Serena said. _I think he's feeling a lot better though. I'm so lucky I found Granny Tegan out here. She saved Ash's life._

"S- Serena…" Ash muttered. His eyes were barely open and he was looking around the room.

"Ash, you're awake!" Serena was excited. "I was so worried…"

"W… Where are we, Serena..?" Ash asked.

"Oh, you won't ever believe it!" Serena exclaimed. "I found this cottage in the middle of nowhere!"

"That's great…" Ash smiled. "Where's Tangela?"

"Granny Tegan took all of the Pokémon into the other room." Serena explained.

"Oh…" Ash smiled. "I… need… more sleep…" Ash closed his eyes and continued to rest.

 _I'm glad everyone turned out okay,_ Ash thought. _It may not seem like it, but I've already done so many amazing things on this journey._

As he explored his past, he thought back to when he was waiting for Serena to meet him at the Pokémon Center.

* * *

 _"Hey, Ash!" Dennis yelled. "There's one thing I forgot to mention! It's extremely important!"_

 _"Yeah, what is it?" Ash asked._

 _"Look," Dennis whispered. "When you go to Viridian Forest, do not stop at the old cottage, okay?"_

 _"What? Why?" Ash asked._

 _"Because-" Dennis began._

 _"Excuse me," Nurse Joy interrupted Ash and Dennis' conversation. "Ash, your mother wanted to call you. She said it was extremely important."_

 _Ash sighed._

 _"I have to go, Dennis." Ash said. "Knowing my mom, she's probably going to nag me about changing my underwear and brushing my teeth."_

 _"Just remember what I told you, okay?" Dennis instructed._

 _"I will!" Ash told him. "Bye, Dennis!"_

 _"Goodbye, Ash!" Dennis and Sandshrew waved back to him._

* * *

"Serena!" Ash shot out of his bed and tried to walk.

"A- Ash, what are you doing!?" Serena pressed her arm against Ash's chest and stopped him from walking.

"We can't stay here, Serena. Grab all of the Pokémon." Ash began to start choking.

"Ash, you're in terrible shape. This is no time to be-" Serena began.

"Serena, I don't have any time to explain-" Ash began, before Granny Tegan re-entered the room.

"I see! You're awake!" Tegan exclaimed. "My soup is already working, I see."

"Umm, I am so sorry to cut this short, but Ash and I really have to get going." Serena explained. "You see, we need to make it to Pewter City and-"

"Don't go just yet!" Granny Tegan smiled. "You simply can't!"

"I… I really am sorry," Serena responded. "I'll make sure to gather up all of the Pokémon and we'll be on our way."

As Serena went to enter the room with all of the Pokémon, she realized that the door was locked.

"Why can't I get in here?" Serena asked.

"It's like I said before," Tegan explained. "You simply can't leave."

"P- Please, we really need to be off-" Serena tugged on the doorknob, but it simply broke off and landed on the floor.

"You simply can't." Tegan said.

On the other side of the door, Tangela, Caterpie, Charlotte and Pidgey were tied to a wall along with about ten other Pokémon.

"S… Serena…" Ash staggered in his attempts to climb out of bed.

"Ash! You have to rest…" Granny Tegan smiled and got a spoonful of soup.

"We have to go…" Ash managed to fight back and push Tegan's soup pot onto the ground.

"What have you done?" As Tegan bent down to clean up the mess that had been made, Ash attempted to use this opportunity to escape.

"Ash, you can barely even walk!" Serena pointed out.

"We have to bust down that door…" Ash told Serena. "I'm not leaving… without Tangela and everyone else!"

"Alright, on three, we're both run towards the door." Serena said. "One, two-"

"Not so fast!" Tegan grabbed Ash from behind and begin to choke him. "You two are mine, you understand!?"

The Pokémon could hear their trainers' struggle and wanted to help.

"Tan!" Tangela tried to slide through the ropes, but it was bound and its movement was heavily restricted.

Pidgey and Charlotte tried to escape as well, but it was with little success.

"Pie!" Caterpie tried to wiggle its way under the ropes, but it was a tight fit. This didn't stop the tiny creature from trying.

"Tan! Tan!" Tangela and all of the other Pokémon were cheering Caterpie on as the small bug Pokémon maneuvered its way to freedom.

"Cater! Caterpie!" Caterpie inched its way towards the old, creaky door.

"You take one step and I'll make sure that Ash doesn't live to see himself recover!" Tegan threatened Serena.

Caterpie began to use String Shot and started to pull on the door in an attempt to get it open. It tugged as hard as it could, but it wasn't working.

"Cater…" Caterpie was pulling as hard as it could. The door was tightly locked, but Caterpie's strings were hardy and tough, allowing Caterpie to have a firm grip as it pulled.

"Please, just don't hurt Ash!" Serena pleaded.

"You just want to leave me, don't you?" Tears formed in the crazy old woman's eyes. "You are just like everyone else! You just use me and then discard me like I am nothing! Well, I'll tell you what! I am something! I am-"

"Under arrest." A mysterious figure said, approaching from behind and putting Tegan in handcuffs.

"Officer Jenny!" Serena happily exclaimed. The officer had teal-colored hair and amber-shaded eyes. Jenny also had a Growlithe traveling with her.

"You guys alright?" The officer looked around. "I'm glad that Growlithe and I finally found this lunatic's hideout."

"You have to explain everything to me!" Serena told Officer Jenny

"I will," Officer Jenny said. "First, let's get your friend here feeling better. And we have to make sure all of the Pokémon are freed."

"Understood!" Serena nodded.

* * *

About ten minutes later, Jenny walked Ash over to a table.

"Sit here," Jenny instructed. "I'll get you a powerful antidote."

"How does the antidote work? Is it a spray?" Serena said.

"Not quite…" Officer Jenny said, pulling out a gigantic needle. "Don't worry, Ash, this will only hurt for a little while. You should feel relief in a few hours."

"Wait… a few… hours?" Ash began, before Jenny injected Ash's arm with a tremendous amount of excruciating pain.

"All done!" Jenny said. "Let me get a bandage, and you're all set!"

As Jenny bandaged up Ash's arm, Serena still had a lot of unanswered questions.

"So, Tegan really was a criminal…" Serena sighed.

"Yes. It turns out that she's the owner of about twenty different Beedrill. She intentionally poisons trainers so that she can kidnap their Pokémon." Officer Jenny said. "But don't worry. All of the Pokémon will be returned to their rightful owners. And Tegan will be locked away permanently."

"That's wonderful!" Serena said. "Right, Ash?"

Ash nodded his head and then fell asleep.

"He looks tired," Officer Jenny said. "Tell me, are you guys headed towards Pewter City?"

"Yes, actually!" Serena nodded.

"Well, I could contact the Officer Jenny in Pewter City and have her take you there if you would like." Officer Jenny offered.

"You would so that?" Serena asked.

"Yeah," Officer Jenny said. "It looks like you guys have been through a lot today."

"Thank you!" Serena replied.

"Well, she should be here shortly. I have to get going. These Pokémon won't deliver themselves." Jenny waved goodbye.

"Grow!" Growlithe barked.

"Bye!" Serena waved back. "Thank you for all your help!"

As Officer Jenny and Growlithe drove away into the distance, Serena's attention turned back to Ash.

 _Ash, when you wake up, we're going to be in Pewter City. I know you'll be able to win your gym battle!_ Serena was confident. But would her confidence be enough?

* * *

"Man…" James said. "Following those twerps sure is tiring…"

"You said it," Meowth said. "I really hope there's somewhere to rest around here…"

"Yeah. Somewhere…" James said.

"Wait, what's that smell?" Jessie asked. "It smells like brownies…"

"I think it's coming from that cottage." James pointed out.

"He's right!" Meowth said. "Let's go!"

As the three members approached the cottage, an elderly woman peered her head out of the cottage.

"Visitors?" The elder asked. "Please come in! I was just making brownies!"

"Free food!" Jessie, James and Meowth high-fived.

"Now, why don't you let me see your Pokémon?" The woman asked. "I'm just dying to meet them!"


	7. The Very First Gym Battle!

**A/N: Another chapter is here! I hope you guys enjoy!**

 _ **I have to ask, how did the old lady escape? She was handcuffed, then she was messing with the Trio. I have to know.**_

That was honestly more of a joke ending than anything else. Besides, this old lady is clearly very strong. Maybe even handcuffs can't hold her…

 _ **Good job, can't wait until next chapter.**_

Glad to hear it! Hopefully I didn't keep you waiting too long! :)

 **Now let's get this chapter going, shall we?**

* * *

Many Pokémon could be seen all throughout Viridian Forest. Most of them were surrounded by peace and nature...

Officer Jenny's motorcycle breezed down a dirt path at blazing speeds. She drove swiftly through Viridian Forest, disturbing every Pokémon in the forest with her loud engine and fast driving.

"THIS IS SO AWESOME!" Ash yelled. He, Serena and Tangela were all sitting behind Jenny.

"I'm just happy to see that you're finally awake, Ash!" Serena yelled.

"YEAH! I THINK I HAVE A LOT OF EXCESS ENERGY!" Ash yelled.

"Do you think you'll be able to fight the gym leader?" Serena asked.

"HECK YEAH! NOTHING'S GONNA STOP ME!" Ash exclaimed. At that moment, his face collided with a tree branch.

"Okay, that kinda stopped me." Ash admitted. "But I'm still going to give my gym battle everything I've got! Isn't that right, buddy?"

"Tan!" Tangela yelled, before it collided with a different tree branch.

"We should be at Pewter City very soon." Jenny explained.

"Thank you so much for doing this, Officer Jenny!" Serena said.

"No big deal!" Jenny said. "You helped out my sister after all. Any friend of her is a friend of mine!"

"Well, it's a really nice gesture!" Serena said.

"Besides," Jenny added. "My sister was always the least attractive in our family!"

"Wait, you look exactly the same-" Ash began to point out.

"We're here!" Officer Jenny said. "Welcome to Pewter City!"

Pewter City was a small, rustic city tucked away near lots of mountains. There was a huge museum near an even bigger Pokémon gym.

"THERE IT IS!" Ash yelled in excitement. "This is where my journey will finally unfold!"

"Well, I have to get going. I heard a rumor that a bunch of kids are vandalising the Pewter City museum." Jenny said.

"And I've got to get to my gym battle!" Ash yelled. "Come on, Serena!"

"Right behind you!" Serena yelled.

As Ash and Serena walked through the streets of Pewter City, they began to approach the gym.

"Almost there! I just know this gym battle is going to be awesome!" Ash yelled.

"So you think you have what it takes to challenge the leader of this gym?" A man asked from behind Ash.

This man wore a red bandana, a cream-colored tank top and had a large brown beard.

"You bet!" Ash yelled. "I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, and I'm gonna be a Pokémon master one day!"

"Interesting." The man said. "So would you be interested in purchasing this rock?"

"What kind of rock?" Ash asked.

"It's a special, unique rock." The man assured Ash.

"It looks like you just found it on the ground-" Serena began.

"Well, I didn't want to know your opinion," The man told Serena. "Look, Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, do you want the rock or not?"

"Ash is not seriously dumb enough to fall for such an obvious-" Serena said.

"I have one thousand Poké Dollars, is that enough?" Ash asked. Serena face palmed in frustration.

"You've got yourself a deal!" The man smiled and counted out Ash's money. "Good luck on your gym battle!"

"Thanks!" Ash said. "Let's go, Tangela! We've got luck on our side now!"

"More like gullibility on your side…" Serena said.

Ash, Serena and Tangela entered the gym together. Looking around, they saw many huge rocks lying around the gym.

"Hello!" A man with brown hair, blue sunglasses, purple overalls and khakis approached our heroes. "My name's Clyde! Now I'm not a trainer, but you look like you're a champ in the making!"

"That's right!" Ash said. "I'm Ash, and I'm going to be a Pokémon Master one day!"

"That so? Well, you'll have to beat Brock before you can do that!" Clyde explained. "You ready to battle, kid? I'll warn you, Brock's pretty tough."

"So am I!" Ash was determined.

"That sounds like the spirit!" Clyde said. "Oh, Brock, it looks like you have a challenger!"

"You're going to challenge me?" Brock asked. "I'm Brock. I'm Pewter City's gym leader."

Brock had an orange t-shirt with a green vest over it. He wore brown pants and had spiky, black hair.

"We'll have to save the formalities for another time," Ash said. "Because right now, you and I have a gym battle!"

"Then let's get started!" Brock agreed.

"All right!" Clyde said. "This is looking to be a good battle! Both the gym leader and the challenger will be allowed the use of two Pokémon! Both the gym leader and the challenger may substitute Pokémon at any given time."

"You ready?" Brock asked.

"You bet." Ash smiled. _This is it. This is what I've been training for!_

"Go, Geodude!" Brock yelled. He threw a Poké Ball and out of it popped a small, round rock Pokémon.

Ash took out his Pokédex.

"Geodude, the Rock Pokémon." The Pokédex revealed, displaying an image of Geodude. "The longer a Geodude lives, the more its edges are chipped and worn away, making it more rounded in appearance. However, this Pokémon's heart will remain hard, craggy, and rough always."

"Sounds good." Ash said. "Pidgey, I choose you!"

Ash threw his ball out onto the rocky terrain.

"Pidgey!" Pidgey yelled, ready to battle.

"You can do it, Ash!" Serena yelled. Meanwhile, Jessie, James and Meowth could be seen pressed against the window.

"Thanks, Serena!" Ash said. "Okay, Pidgey, let's start this battle with Tackle!"

"Pi!" Pidgey flew up and dashed downward towards Geodude.

"Geodude! Use Defense Curl!" Brock yelled. Geodude curled up and became unhittable. Pidgey continued to repeatedly pound itself at Geodude, but with no luck.

"All right, Pidgey, use Tackle again!" Ash yelled.

As Pidgey slammed into Geodude, Ash realized what was happening. Pidgey was beginning to grow more tired with each attack. Its movements were becoming sluggish and Geodude was simply waiting for Pidgey to faint.

 _I need to gain control of this battle,_ Ash said. _And fast!_

"Pidgey, put all your energy into this one move! Pour all of your power into this next Tackle!" Ash said. Pidgey ascended into the air and nodded its head.

"Pi! Pi!" Pidgey quickly flew downwards. Geodude began to worry that he would not survive the incoming impact.

"Geodude, use Defense Curl!" Brock said. Geodude hid its head and solidified itself.

Pidgey smacked right into Geodude, but the attack simply wasn't strong enough. Having poured its energy into the attack, Pidgey was now completely vulnerable with itself in midair.

"Geodude, now, use Rock Throw!" Brock ordered. Geodude found a sizeable rock and tossed it with a powerful pitch.

"Pid-" The impact sent Pidgey tumbling through the air. As the bird hit the ground, it slowly fainted.

"Ash has lost a Pokémon!" Clyde decided. "It is now a one versus two battle. Brock has the advantage!"

"Pidgey, you did awesome. Return." Ash was confounded.

 _Pidgey wasn't strong enough to break past Brock's defense,_ Ash realized. _It's time to bring out my next Pokémon!_

"Tangela, you ready?" Ash asked. After watching Pidgey's fate, Tangela was quite nervous.

"You can do it, Ash!" Serena cheered. She was the only spectator in the audience.

 _Rock Pokémon are weak to the grass type, so all I have to do is use Tangela's strongest grass attacks,_ Ash thought.

"Tangela, use Vine Whip!" Ash yelled. Tangela bombarded Geodude with a flurry of quick vines.

"Geodude, use Defense Curl!" Brock yelled. Tangela's vines weren't enough to beat Geodude's defensive position.

 _Come on, how do I break through?_ Ash asked.

"Is that your idea? To simply play defense and bide your time?" Ash asked.

"Sometimes the best offense is a good defense." Brock told Ash. "The guy who attacks doesn't always win."

"Tangela, just keep trying to attack!" Ash said.

"Aren't you just mindlessly attacking now?" Brock asked.

"Maybe, but persistence is key!" Ash said. "What's the hurt in trying anyway?"

Tangela continued to swing its vines. Geodude remained unmoved. It stood strong and refused to budge.

 _What am I supposed to do?_ Ash was struggling to stay calm. He began to get flustered and annoyed. This made Serena very concerned.

"Ash! Keep your head in the game!" Serena said.

Hearing this, Ash realized what he was doing. He was losing his state of mind.

 _I need to stay absolutely calm,_ Ash decided. _Now, logically, how can I defeat Geodude?_

"Tangela, listen up! Use-" Ash began.

"Excuse me." Brock proposed. "Clyde, may I make a substitution?"

Ash, Serena, Tangela and Clyde were all shocked.

"Well, umm, it's not against the rules, so… fine by me." Clyde said.

"Geodude, return." Brock stored Geodude into its Poké Ball.

 _He had the advantage, why switch?_ Ash wondered. Tangela was confused as well. _Still, now I have to battle a different Pokémon. I wonder what it will be…_

"Let's finish this, Onix!" Brock yelled. A tall behemoth of a snake spread its way into the battle. It towered over Tangela and looked down on the seemingly smaller Pokémon.

"Onix, the Rock Snake Pokémon," The Pokédex explained. "Onix has a magnet in its brain. It acts as a compass so that this Pokémon does not lose direction while it is tunneling."

"Whoa, it's huge!" Ash was impressed. "I've never seen anything like it!"

 _But still, how is my Tangela going to win?_

"Onix, use Bind!" Brock yelled. Onix used its huge tail to try and squeeze Tangela.

"Tangela, dodge it!" Ash yelled. As Onix swung its tail towards Tangela, the mess of vines managed to evade the attack by jumping backwards.

"I've got you right where I want you!" Brock yelled. "Onix! Use Rock Tomb now!"

"Huh?" Ash noticed Onix began to glow with white energy. Rocks began to form above Onix and the rocks flung one by one towards Tangela.

"Tan-" Tangela froze up and was too scared to move.

"Tangela!" Ash could only sit and watch as Onix sent four rocks piercing into Tangela.

"Tan…" Tangela grew weaker and collapsed onto the rocky ground

"Tangela! Tangela!" Ash ran onto the rocky battlefield and went to check on Tangela.

"Onix!" Onix prepared to throw more rocks.

"Wait, Onix, don't!" Brock stopped his Pokémon before it could hurt Ash. "It's okay, Onix. The battle is over."

"Tangela, are- are you okay?" Ash held Tangela in his arms. Tangela was clearly knocked out. Ash was in denial and didn't want to believe it. He had lost yet another battle.

"The winner is our gym leader, Brock!" Clyde said. "An excellent effort from our challenger!"

"That was a good match." Brock helped Ash off the ground. Ash wiped tears from his eyes.

"Thanks…" Ash tried to hide his obvious weakness.

"You should get Tangela and Pidgey to a Pokémon Center as soon as you can." Brock advised. "They're going to be in pretty bad shape."

"I… know… that…" Ash was losing his cool. Every time he battled another trainer, he always came up short. But this match had been his most painful loss yet.

"Come on, Ash. We should go to the Pokémon Center." Serena agreed with Brock. She and Ash both left the gym.

Ash and Serena sluggishly walked towards the Pokémon Center. As soon as they entered the building, Ash handed his Pokémon to Nurse Joy and sat down.

"We'll get to healing them as soon as we can!" Nurse Joy smiled.

"Chan!" Chansey smiled as well. However, Ash was too down to notice.

 _Ash…_ Seeing Ash this way made Serena unhappy as well. _There has to be something I can do to cheer him up… right?_

Looking around the Pokémon Center, Serena saw a personal computer that people could use to make video calls. She came up with an idea that might cheer up Ash.

 _This idea could work…_ Serena thought. _I think it would be worth a shot!_


	8. Extreme Pokémon Training!

**A/N: Chapter eight is here!**

"Tangela!" Ash could only sit and watch as Onix sent four rocks piercing into Tangela.

"Tan…" Tangela grew weaker and collapsed onto the rocky ground

"Tangela! Tangela!" Ash ran onto the rocky battlefield and went to check on Tangela.

"Onix!" Onix prepared to throw more rocks.

"Wait, Onix, don't!" Brock stopped his Pokémon before it could hurt Ash. "It's okay, Onix. The battle is over."

"Tangela, are- are you okay?" Ash held Tangela in his arms. Tangela was clearly knocked out. Ash was in denial and didn't want to believe it. He had lost yet another battle.

"The winner is our gym leader, Brock!" Clyde said. "An excellent effort from our challenger!"

"That was a good match." Brock helped Ash off the ground. Ash wiped tears from his eyes.

"Thanks…" Ash tried to hide his obvious weakness.

"You should get Tangela and Pidgey to a Pokémon Center as soon as you can." Brock advised. "They're going to be in pretty bad shape."

"I… know… that…" Ash was losing his cool. Every time he battled another trainer, he always came up short. But this match had been his most painful loss yet.

"Come on, Ash. We should go to the Pokémon Center." Serena agreed with Brock. She and Ash both left the gym.

Ash and Serena sluggishly walked towards the Pokémon Center. As soon as they entered the building, Ash handed his Pokémon to Nurse Joy and sat down.

"We'll get to healing them as soon as we can!" Nurse Joy smiled.

"Chan!" Chansey smiled as well. However, Ash was too down to notice.

 _Ash…_ Seeing Ash this way made Serena unhappy as well. _There has to be something I can do to cheer him up… right?_

Looking around the Pokémon Center, Serena saw a personal computer that people could use to make video calls. She came up with an idea that might cheer up Ash.

 _This idea could work…_ Serena thought. _I think it would be worth a shot!_

Serena searched through Ash's backpack and found what she was looking for. She inputted a series of numbers into the personal computer.

"Hello?" A voice responded from the computer. "Who is this?"

"Are you Delia, Ash's mom?" Serena asked.

"Yes." The picture came online and Delia came into view. Mr. Mime could be seen vacuuming in the background.

"Great! I wanted to talk about Ash-" Serena began.

"Oh, for the love of- how much damage did he cause? I'll write you a check-" Delia took out her checkbook.

"Oh no, it's not anything like that! I'm a friend of Ash's!" Serena explained.

"Wait, does Ash have a girlfriend? Are you Ash's girlfriend?" Delia asked.

"N- NO! IT'S- IT'S NOT ANYTHING- ANYTHING LIKE THAT AT ALL!" Serena's face was a dark shade of red. "I just wanted to see if you could talk to Ash. He's really down and I thought you could maybe help him…"

Delia pondered the idea for a second.

"I don't really know how much I can do… he doesn't really listen to me… ever…" Delia said. "But it's worth a shot! Where is my lovely boy?"

"Ash!" Serena called to him. "Just remember, please be nice and comforting to Ash."

"Of course!" Delia agreed with Serena. "I'm a very nice person.

"What is it?" Ash wandered over.

"ASH!" Delia yelled. "WHY HAVEN'T YOU CALLED YOUR MOTHER!?"

Ash began to turn around, but that just made his mother even angrier.

"SIT DOWN!" Delia said. "Do you realize that you haven't called me once?"

"It's only been a week… or two…" Ash gulped, slowly sitting down on a stool.

"EXACTLY!" Delia yelled, pushing her face up to her computer. Mr. Mime was covering his ears because of all of the noise.

"Umm… well…" Ash began.

"You can't even come up with a good excuse?" Delia yelled. As she went on and on, Ash noticed a peculiar rock on Delia's table.

"What's the rock for?" Ash asked his mother.

"Oh, I found the silly thing in my shoe." Delia explained. "Those rocks are literally everywhere- hey, where are you going?"

"I have unfinished business!" Ash yelled. Serena and Delia were both confused.

"Wait up!" Serena chased after Ash.

"You get back here right now!" Delia yelled. No one was listening to her.

* * *

Ash ran through Pewter City to find who he was looking for.

"Ash, what are you doing?" Serena asked.

Ash chose to ignore her and ran over to a familiar face.

"Hey!" The man who sold Ash a 'unique' rock told our hero.

"You told me this rock was unique!" Ash said. "But my mom said they're everywhere!"

"Have you ever heard of deceptive marketing?" The man asked.

"Look, I just want my money back!" Ash said.

"Sorry, kid-" The man said.

"What do you mean, sorry? I already lost my gym battle against Brock, can't you get cut me some slack?" Ash asked.

"Tell you what, Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town," The shady rock dealer said. "How about I teach you some of my old training techniques? It'll be a package deal included with your rock purchase."

"All right! You've got a deal!" Ash said.

"Perfect. Meet me at my house at six o'clock in the morning." The man said.

"S- Six o'clock? That's way too early!" Ash said. "When do I sleep?"

"Do you want to win your gym battle or do you want to live in your mom's basement forever?" The man asked. "That's what I thought. See you at six."

"See you then…" Ash sighed.

* * *

Morning came and the sun could be seen rising above Pewter City's looming mountains.

"Good morning, Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!" The man said. Ash looked like he was half asleep and could barely hear the man speak.

"You can just call me Ash-" Ash began.

"Are you ready to train?" The man asked.

"Yeah, I guess so. Do you have any coffee, maybe a rice ball-" Ash began.

"Does this look like a buffet to you?" The man said. "This is serious training for serious trainers. If you can't man up and handle it, then get out of here."

Ash was now very scared of the mysterious man.

"Now, let me see your Pokémon." The man said.

"Okay, let's go, everyone!" Ash yelled. Tangela hopped off Ash's shoulder. Pidgey and Caterpie emerged from their Poké Balls.

"I see." The man said. "This will be very tough, but it will be manageable."

"Tangela, I want you to use your vines as a jump rope. Jump your rope one hundred times." The man ordered.

"Pidgey, I want you to use your wings to do push-up exercises. I'd say two hundred would be enough."

"Caterpie! Use your strings to carry these iron bars around my house! Complete forty laps!"

 _Wow, I'm glad I don't have to do any of this,_ Ash thought. _This would probably kill me…_

"In order for a Pokémon to be strong, its trainer must be just as strong!" The man said.

"Oh, I don't really think that's-"

"Jumping jacks! Four hundred!" The man yelled.

"Four hundred? Are you insane!?" Ash yelled.

"Quiet, or I'll make it five hundred!" The man roared.

"Yessir!" Ash complied and started jumping.

"Perfect." The man said.

After their exercises, Ash, Pidgey, Tangela and Caterpie had the drive and effort of a dead battery.

"Good job. All of you survived the warm-up phase of your training!" The man said.

"W- Warm-up phase?" Ash asked. Caterpie gave up and returned to its Poké Ball.

"That's right! Next, we'll be doing competitive races around my house!" The man said. "Ash, Tangela, Pidgey, it's time to determine which of you is fastest!"

"Umm, I'm a human, won't I have a huge advantage?" Ash asked. "I'm way taller and way faster than both of these-"

Thirty minutes later, Pidgey and Tangela completed their laps.

"How many… laps… do I have left?" Ash asked the man.

"Well, Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, you have ten laps left." The man said.

"This is so not cool!" Ash yelled, his voice booming through the whole city. Serena woke up and could hear Ash yelling from inside the Pokémon Center.

"What is that noise?" Serena shrugged and went back to sleep.

"Alright, now that you're done with your jogging, I suppose you can have a little break." The man told Ash.

"Woohoo!" Ash yelled. As he yelled, he grabbed his right hip because it was in pain.

"I will give you about two minutes to get water." The man said. "Then we will begin training your muscle memory."

Pidgey flew away into its Poké Ball.

"Looks like it's just you and me, Tangela!" Ash said. Ash looked over and saw Tangela passed out in the grass.

"Your two minutes are up!" The man yelled furiously.

"Wait, how is that even possible? I haven't even gotten water-" Ash began.

"I do not care." The man replied. "Give me three hundred squats, right now!"

"This is-" Ash began.

"I do not recall asking for your opinion!" As soon as the man walked over to Ash, the young, exhausted trainer started his squat workout.

"I don't understand!" Ash said. "None of my Pokémon are even training with me! How does this benefit me?"

"It does benefit you. Maybe the reason you can't defeat Brock is because you can't open your eyes and see that." The man said.

"You talk about Brock like you know him." Ash said.

"Heh, kid, I know Brock better than you could ever imagine." The man replied. "Now stop babbling and continue your exercise!"

* * *

"Hmm, I must say, Ash looks very worn out." James said.

"This looks like the perfect time for some Tangela thievery." Meowth said.

"I agree." Jessie added. "But this place is too crowded. We need to wait until that twerp and his twerpette friend are all alone."

"And then we'll strike!" Meowth yelled.

The trio saw Officer Jenny wandering around Pewter City and decided they needed to lay low for now.

* * *

"Two hundred and ninety-nine… three hundred!" Ash yelled. It was about noon, and Ash's stomach was rumbling like a volcano about to erupt.

"Can I please grab something to eat?" Ash asked.

"You have worked quite hard…" The man realized. "One hundred more squats!"

"Come on!" Ash said. "Just tell me why this is important anyway!"

The man paused for a moment. Ash thought the man would be really mad, but the man just sighed.

"In a battle, who is more important? The trainer or the Pokémon?" The man asked.

"Well, isn't it obvious? It should be the Pokémon." Ash said. "They're the ones who do the battling."

"That's terribly wrong." The man said. "The trainer decides which Pokémon go into battle. They decide which moves to use. They determine winning or losing. If a strong Pokémon is in the hands of a weak trainer, a team cannot obtain victory."

"So… you think the trainer is more important?" Ash asked.

"No-" The man said.

"Well, what's the answer? Stop dodging my question and get to the point!" Ash said.

"The trainer and the Pokémon are equally important." The man said. "Only together can they win. Only together can they grow stronger. Only together can they-"

"Flint, honey! Dinner's ready!" A woman's voice said.

"Well, I'm afraid this is the end of your training." The man, Flint, said.

"Wait, so that's it? I'm just supposed to battle Brock now?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, I guess so. You've worked hard enough. I think it will be an interesting battle, to say the least." Flint laughed.

"Well, thanks, I guess. I still want a refund for my rock though." Ash told Flint before he could leave to eat dinner.

"Good trainers are economically smart as well." Flint said. "A quality you simply haven't mastered yet."

Flint turned around and Ash was left broke and poor.

"Ash!" Serena yelled. "I have been looking everywhere!"

"Oh, hey, Serena." Ash said. "I think I'm ready to take Brock on again!"

"A- Are you serious? You just lost yesterday, do you really think you've improved?" Serena asked.

"Yep! I'm going to win for sure this time!" Ash said, pulling Tangela off the ground and putting the grass Pokémon on his head. "Just watch and learn!"

"I can't tell if he's actually a lot stronger or just really stupid…" Serena sighed as Ash headed towards the Pewter City gym.

"Brock! I am ready to challenge you!" Ash yelled, running through the doors and up to the gym leader.

Before Brock could respond, Ash heard his stomach grumble.

"Actually, I need to get something to eat. But after that, you better be prepared!" Ash yelled.

"I look forward to it." Brock smiled. Ash ran out of the gym to get some food.

* * *

The scene shifted to Ash and Serena in a restaurant. Ash was shoving rice balls into his mouth.

"You're lucky that I actually have money." Serena pointed out.

"Hey, I had money!" Ash replied. "I just… don't… anymore…"

"Well, I hope the training you got is worth the price." Serena sighed.

"I guess there's only one way to find out. Come on, Tangela!" Ash and his Pokémon ran so fast, they caused a waitress to drop all of her plates. Serena helped clean up the mess, then proceeded to run after Ash.

* * *

"Okay!" Clyde yelled. "The rematch between the challenger, Ash Ketchum, and the gym leader, Brock, will now commence!"

"Let's go, Geodude!" Brock yelled. His rock Pokémon entered the battlefield once again.

 _He's playing the exact strategy that he did last time,_ Ash thought. _So, I guess I should play along._

"Go get 'em, Pidgey!" Ash yelled.

"Pi! Pi!" Pidgey let out a fierce battle cry as it went into battle.

"Okay, Pidgey. You know what to do. Let's just go straight in!" Ash yelled.

 _Has he really learned nothing?_ Serena thought. _If he plays this battle exactly like the first one, then he can't possibly hope to win-_

Pidgey's take off into the Tackle was a lot faster than before. Geodude didn't have very much time to react.

"G- Geodude, use Defense Curl!" Brock yelled.

Geodude went to curl its body up, but Pidgey hit Geodude before it could get a good defensive position.

"We did it, Pidgey! That was a direct hit!" Ash celebrated.

"I wouldn't celebrate just yet. This battle is so far from over." Brock pointed out.

"Yeah," Ash agreed. "But that just makes it more fun, doesn't it, Tangela?"

"Tan! Tan!" The trainer and Pokémon smiled at each other.


End file.
